Karachais
Karachais - one of the nations exiled from their homeland. The deportation of Karachais was carried out in several stages. On April 5, 1943, the USSR People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) issued Order № 52-6927 "Deportation of family members of 573 rebels". However, this decree broke into the accusation of the Karachais in collaboration with the Germans and treason. On the basis of the Decree by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR of October 12, 1943 No. 115-13 and on the basis of Order No. 1118-342 dated October 14, 1943, 62,842 Karachais deported to the Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan (Buga, 1992: 265). The forced deportation of Karachais started in November 2-5. 68938 Karachai people were loaded into freight trains and exiled. During the resettlement, tens of thousands of Karachais died, others resettled in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Currently, about a thousand of Karachais live in Almaty, Pavlodar, Zhambyl and South-Kazakhstan region. Since 1996, the Karachai-Balkar diaspora has been actively cooperating with the ethno-cultural center "Ming Mountain".
Brief history and cultural features
The Ethnic Naming of Karachais
The Karachais are differentiated as one of the Turkic-speaking peoples of the North Caucasus, known as the Karachais, call themselves Karachaily. In addition, the Karachais call themselves as Alan/Alanla. The European scientist W. Prole, during the research in the North Caucasus in 1915, used the name Malkar (Balkar) only to the highlanders who lived near the slopes of the Cherek Mountain. People from Baskhan, Chegem and Karachai are named after the mountain slopes. That is, the people who lived in the foothills of the Church called themselves Malharly, people living in the foothills of Baskhan called themselves Baskhanchy, and for the residents of Karachai district used the naming of Karachaily. In fact, these people treat themselves as mountainous, and they call each other Alan.
The Bolsheviks, who conquered the Caucasus after the October Revolution of 1917, changed the new administrative system and united the Karachai region with Kabardin, Beslen and Abaza, and formed the Karachai-Sherkesh autonomous region. Then the Soviet government joined to the Kabardino-Balkarian autonomy, which was formed by the people living in the mountain gorges Baskhan, Chegem, Byzyngy, Kholam and Cherek. Thus, in 1922, the Karachai and the Balkar were separated into two independent nations.
The results of the expedition of W. Blake to Cherek in 1915 were published in the journal "Keleti Semle" in the article "Balkarische Studien ". After 1922, the Soviet government recognized the inhabitants of the Cherek region as the Balkars, along with Baskhan and Chegem inhabitants. All of these facts in the scientific community led to the formation of the naming Balkar and its separation from the Karachais.
Religion and Culture
Currently, almost all Karachais are Sunni Muslims, who adhere to the Hanafi mazkhab. The mass conversion to Islam began in the Middle Ages. According to the researchers, the immigration of Nogays and Crimean Tatars to the North Caucasus in the 17th century led to the Karachai’s conversion to Islam.
Like other Turkic peoples, Karachai's ancestors believed in shamanism, Christianity and other beliefs. There is evidence that the Karachais for a long time worshiped the Eternal Blue Sky, Tengri. It can be understood from the legends of Teyri and Umay-Ene that the Karachai-Balkars adhered to pre-Islamic ancient Turkic beliefs. Ancient Turks, known since the time of the empires of the Asian Huns (3rd century BC - 3rd century AD) and European Huns (5th-6th Century), believed in the Eternal Blue Sky, Tengri. Tengrism can be evidently traced in the heroic epics of Karachais (Karachas, Balkars 2014). There is evidence in the Armenian and Byzantine sources of the early Middle Ages that the Huns, who lived in the Caucasus, have a mysterious god named Tengri Khan. This proves that Karachais like other Turkic peoples of the Caucasus adhered to beliefs.
In addition, the presence of the Christian religion among the Karachais is also based on historical circumstances. In ancient times, Karachais as the people of the Caucasus also adhered to Christianity. Under the influence of Byzantium, Christianity began to spread in the Northern Caucasus in the Middle Ages, for example, in the ancient Turkic tribes of Bulghar, Sabyr, Kokturik and Khazar. It is also known that the Kipchak tribes, such as Kuman, Kum and Polovets, were closer to Christianity, and some of them converted to this religion. In the times of Kipchak Turks, who were the ancestors of Karachais, Christianity was a widespread religion in the North Caucasus. Information in medieval Byzantine, Arabic, Persian, Slavic and other sources confirms that the Karachais also adhered to Christianity. Today, names and customs associated with this religion are often found among the Karachais (Karachais, Balkars 2014).
From the customs, epics, traditions, fairy tales and legends of Karachais, we can see the common mythological motives of the local Caucasian tribes (Tavkul 2002: 265-267). Especially the melodies associated with the Mountain, river-water, wind, rain, soil, fire and other natural phenomena are found in the folklore of neighboring nations like Sherkesh, Kabarda, Ossetin and other Caucasian nations show the integrity of the oral literature of Karachai-Balkars. Ossetian scholar V.I.Abayev wrote that, despite the fact that the people of the Caucasus spoke different languages, they had a common culture (Abaev, 1933). Therefore, today we can say that the common culture, worldview and religion unite the Karachai-Balkar people, which are considered as separate nations.
75% of the respondents participated in the international project stated that they adhere to Islam, practice religious rites and marry only Muslims (http://tyurki.weebly.com/).
Folk oral and written literature
Kabarda and Karachai-Balkar nations have a common history, despite their differences in language, their literature developed together. The main source of Karachai-Balkan literature as the literature of other nations in the world is folklore. Scientists, who deeply studied the way of life, traditions and customs of Karachais in ancient times, wrote that their oral literature is very rich. For example, at the beginning of the 20th century a member of the Russian Geographical Society, ethnographer and the Caucasus expert G.F.Chursin reported in his writings that The Karachai melodies and peculiarities of performing folk songs acquired great appreciation among other neighboring Turkic nations of the Caucasus. Very rich oral literature of Karachais is closer to the art of speech of other people of the Caucasus on thematic and stylistic features (Chursin, 1913).
One of the important features of Karachai's oral literature is Nart Taurukhla, the epics of Nart. The Nart epics are a common heritage for the Karachai-Balkarian Turks and the neighboring ethnoses of the Caucasus, who speak different languages (Abaev, 1933). According to the mythology of the Caucasus, Narts are legendary heroes who are the ancestors of all nations inhabited the Caucasus. In Nart's epics it is mentioned that they tamed horses, melted metal, and made the first weapon. Narts became a symbol of courage, bravery, kindness and culture of the Caucasian people. Narts were the most intelligent, resourceful and skillful warriors, and they won their powerful enemies not only with power and diligence, but also with intellectual abilities. As mentioned above, the Nart epics are the only creative works of literature that unite the Caucasian people, differ from each other in language and mentality and ethnic origin. Nart epics are the most ancient works of oral literature of the Karachai-Balkarian Turks, as well as Adyghe (Shekesh), Abkhazian, Ossetian and Chechen-Ingush nations.
Beside of Nart epics, which are part of Karachai folklore, heroic epics and historical epics are the most important spiritual and cultural heritage. Zhyrshy, who are folk poets, sang of history, social structure of Karachais, their relationship with other peoples of the Caucasus and the fight for freedom against Russia (Kazakh literature, 2005: 238).
The epic "Avchy Bioynoger" ("Hunter Binoger") is one of the most ancient works of literature of Karachai-Balkar folklore. The battle of Karchi with shahzads from Kabard is depicted in the epic "Batyr Karcha". Karachai-Balkar folk literature tells about the feats of the Kabardian shahzads. It is surprising that such epics are valuable both in the literature of the Kabardian nations, and in the literature of the Karachai-Malkar nation. The people of Karashay-Malkar have appropriated the heroes of these epics, and the Kabardinian heroes such as Achemez and Zhansoh later became known as heroes of the Karachai-Balkar nation.
The historical epics of the Karachais also depicted the struggle for freedom against Russia. There was the battle under the command of General Emanuel against the Russian army in the district of Khasavka in 1828, the epic "Khasavka" and the epic of the deceased "Umai" are examples of the Russian-Karachai war.
It is up to the narrators who had contributed much to the dissemination of folklore works, its development till the present time. Numerous works of oral literature have become a noble heritage of nation. The narrators of the epics of Karachais were forgotten, the epics itself had changed over the centuries and spread by word of mouth from generation to generation.
Among the poets of the Karachai-Balkar people Zantudi has a special place, who lived in the 18th century, more precisely, between 1695 and 1798. His epic about the Kabardian prince Kaitukuly Aslanbek was widely known, and later became a popular epic poem.
One of the well-known Karachais’ poets was Kasbot, who lived in the nineteenth century. Kasbot was born in a poor family of the Kochkor tribe of Karachai generation in 1834 in Uchkulan village. In his poems he described difficult fate of Karachai-Balkar Turks, who freely mastered Sherkesh and Georgian languages and enjoyed the warmth of their people. In his poems, which soon became popular among the people, the poet touched upon the social themes of inequality in the Karachai-Balkar society, the conflicts between the wealthy and the poor. Today, his heroic poems like "Barrak", "Souls", "Kanamat", and "Gapalaw" have become popular poetry that have changed over the time. During the Soviet era, the Karachai literature had been distinguished by the names of new poets - B.M.Pachev, P. Keshokov, T. Borukaev, Ali Shogentsukov, A. Keshokov, K.Kuliev, A.Naloyev.
Modern Karachai-Balkar literary scholars published a collection of poems by Karachaevo-Balkar poets and writers entitled "Zhiltinle" in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek under the title "Brother's Word" (Baur's Word) and "Dzhashabuzna Bayrahi" ("The Life of Our Life" ). In 1956 was published Kerim Otar's book "Roads", which describes the bitter fate of the Karachai people in exile.
Karachai-Balkarians began returning to their homeland, the Caucasus in 1957. 1959-1961 yy. was a productive period, represented by many new books to the readers of Karachai literature. The works of Karachai poets and writers, who were repressed and became an enemy of the people during the Second World War, were reprinted in the press. In 1970ies Karachai-Balkar literature witnessed the period of its revival. Such young writers as Abdullah Baghi, Asker Dodu, Svetlana Mottay, Mutalip Beppay, Muradin Malmeiz, Sakinat Musuka, Musa Baida contributed their works to a new era of literature. Almost all these young poets were descendants of those who were deported from the Caucasus in the 1950s (Tavkul 2002: 270-277).
Location and population (demography)
The most prevalent place of Karachais is the Karachaevo-Sherkesh autonomous district of the Russian Federation. The population is about 300 thousand people. Most of the Karachais live in the Caucasus today. Its location is the Republic of Karachaevo-Sherkesh, subordinate to the Russian Federation in the so-called Northern Caucasus. The north-eastern Black Sea region of Karachai-Cherkessia is a region of the districts of Uchkulan, Teberda and Zelenchuk on the banks of the river Coban. The capital of Karachai-Cherkessia is the capital of Cherkessk. The territory of the republic is 14.1 thousand km2. At present, the population of Karachais is growing. According to the data, the population of the Karachai-Cherkess Republic currently makes up 466,666 people, while the Karachai make up more than 38.5% of the republic's population. According to the 2005 census, the number of Karachais is 218403. It is also known that tens of thousands of Karachais live in Turkey and Syria, the United States and the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Cultural Anthropology
The Karachais do not differ much from other neighboring Caucasian people in terms of cultural and anthropological type. Their features are similar to Ossetians, Kabordinians, Bolkars and others. They are representatives of the Caucasian group of the European race. They have light skin, an oval-shaped head, thick eyebrows, large, black (sometimes green) eyes, a thin nose, a tightened body and high height. In addition, many Karachai-Balkar people are similar to the Karachais, who have similarity to the brachycephalic group of the European race, which was also observed during the periods of the ancient Eastern, Turkestan and Central Anatolian Turks, known as "turbanid". It is worth noting that some of the Karachai have monoglobal symptoms.
The two-thousand-year history of the anthropological character of Karachais in the North Caucasus is directly related to their ethnic origin. As a result of communication and mixing of Turkish peoples with Caucasian tribes (to marry a representative of another people, to marry a girl of another people, language changes), Karachais have such an anthropological character. In particular, the Karachai people have a briehecephalic European type observed in the Kipchak Turks who lived in the Middle Ages. This is probably the result of a long relationship with the Kypchaks, who ruled the North Caucasus for a long time. (Anchabidze, 1960: 113-120).
The social and family structure of Karachais, their cultural way of life, national costumes, music and dancing, food culture are different from other North Caucasian tribes. However, Caucasian national headgear, thin and long black trousers (long chapan), luxurious patterns on dresses, female and male dance manners, musical instruments and their harmony, Turkic (folk songs) and other songs are compatible with the people of the North Caucasus (Karachais, Balkarians 2014).
History
Since the earliest times the Karachai people lived in the foothills of Elbrus, the highest peak of the Caucasus and deep valleys. Karachai people called the Elbrus Peak "Bengu Daa" - the eternal mountain. These two nations inhabited two sides of the mountain, the Karachais on one side , the Bolkars settled on the other side of the mountain. Despite their twodifferent geographic location, there is no difference in their culture and language. However, the history and language of Karachais and Balkarians is often promoted separately. The ancient Karachai-Balkar tribes, called Turks in ancient writings, who lived for several centuries on the highest peaks and ruins of the Caucasian mountains, began to move to the plains during the period of collectivization in the 1920s.
As a result of historical, anthropological, archaeological and linguistic studies it was established that the Karachai-Balkarian family was a descendant of the Turkish tribal community prevailed in these regions. In particular, the Central Asian tribes of which the prototype Khun, Vesna, Khazar, Hagar, Kipchak and others, who moved to the North Caucasus in the first centuries of our era, played an important role in the formation of their ethnic structure. In addition, several nomadic tribes of Turkish or non-Turkish tribes joined the ethnogeny of the Karachai-Balkar people. In fact, from the middle of the millennium BC, the Saka (Iskit) tribal associations formed and ruled in the Eurasian desert belonging to the North Caucasus. Saki are considered the ancestors of many local tribes, including Karachai, inhabiting the North Caucasus. Karachai-Balkarian ethnos comes from ancient ethnos, tribes such as Alan, As, etc. Despite the fact that ethnic and linguistic origin is a matter of controversy, they come from the Indian-European language family and belong to the group of Iranian languages. In the I century AD they moved from Central Asia to the North Caucasus and joined local tribes, including the Protatiri tribes (Meliket-bey, 1960: 114). In the ethnic structure of the modern Ossetian and Karachai-Balkar peoples, the tribes of the Alan and the altar occupy a special place on the basis of their distinctive features (in terms of culture, folklore, anthropology, language, etc.). In addition, the naming of Alan or As given to Karachais by neighboring tribes proves the existence of this ethnic historical period. The Ossetians called them Asiagi / Aassons, and Georgians Alani / Az / Ovs.
In the second half of the 6th century AD, the Turkic Khaganate (552-744), which was a triumph in the Eurasian steppes, conquered the North Caucasus in the 570s. Subsequently, part of the Turkish tribes on these lands increased. In the year of 630, the clan under the ruler of the Turkic Ashina Khaganate formed the Khazar Khaganat, whose territory stretched from the North Caucasus to the Volga and the Caspian Sea. The capital is located in the Lower Volga and the northwest of the Caspian Sea. They ruled for 630-969 years (Artemonov, 1962). The Turkic population increased significantly during the three centuries of Khazar state rule on the lands of Western Eurasia. The Khazar Khaganate had a great influence on the formation of tribes, especially the Azerbaijani, Sogdian, Karachai-Balkarian and Crimean Tatars. At present, the remains of ancient Turkish cultural heritage are still being discovered on the territory of the North Caucasus, on the Kuban and Don rivers. Archeological finds include ceramic and iron products, stone sculptures from ancient Turkic writing, various jewelry from gold and silver belonging to the Turkic Khaganate and the Khazar Khanate. In particular, such a cultural heritage is considered a legacy of ancestors from the Karachai-Balkar people and exposed to the audience in museums nowadays. Karachai scholar-scientist S. Baichorov studies ancient Turkic inscriptions found in the North Caucasus (Baichorov, 1989). In the culture and history of the Karachai people, Kumyk and the Turks of the North Caucasus, there are vivid traces of the Turkic and Khazar kaganates.
Undoubtedly, the influence of the Kipchaks on the ethnic development of Karachais after the ancient Turkic era was significant. Moreover, the fact that the people belonged to the Kipchak language group is connected with the establishment of the political domination of the Kipchaks in Eurasia. In the region of Eurasian lands, namely the steppe regions of modern Kazakhstan, the state of Kipchak was generally in the XI-XIII centuries before the conquest of the Mongols. Originally, the Kipchak Turks living in the eastern and north-eastern parts of Central Asia conquered the Oguz land, which lies between the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea in the second half of the 11th century, and since that time began the resettlement in the Volga-Urals, North Caucasus, Black Sea region of the Tropical and Eastern Europe. Some of these Kipchak tribes moved southwest of the Eurasian steppes and settled in the North Caucasus, and the other part went south to settle in Georgia. The last stop is that the Kipchaks who chose these lands are the basis for the full ethnic formation of the Karachai-Balkar people.
Many of the Turkic tribes, led by the Kypchak tribes of Toksob and Borzhuly, whom the Byzantines called the Kun, and the Russians Polovets, migrated from Eastern Russia and the Black Sea to the borders of Byzantium, that is, to Eastern Europe. The formation of the Kipchak state, the emergence of dozens of Kipchak tribes in the Eurasian steppe led to widespread popularization of the Kipchak language group.
Another factor that influenced the ethnic composition of the Karachais is connected with the Mongol invasion. To the east of Central Asia in the first quarter of the 13th century Mongolian and Turkic tribes under the leadership of Genghis Khan conquered many Kipchak tribes who ruled in the North Caucasus and around it (the Volga-Ural region, north of the Black Sea, the plains of Eastern Russia, etc.). This region later became the Golden Horde (1224 / 1240-1383). Later the Golden Horde broke up into the following states, the Kazan (1438-1552), the Crimean (1441-1783), the Astrakhan (1459-1556), the Tyumen (Siberia, 1468-1607), the Uzbek (Abulkhair 1428-1468, Shaibani - 1501- 1601) and the Kazakh Khanate (1465-1822 / 1847), as well as the Nogai Horde (1440-1634). Among these countries, the Crimean and Astrakhan khanates and the Nogai horde dominated the North Caucasus, which had a political and cultural impact on the local population. During this period, the number of Turkish and Turkish-Mongolian tribes from Turkestan and Mongolia increased in the North Caucasus. They joined the ancient tribes of the Kipchak tribes and became part of the ethnic composition of the Karachai people. Such a situation is observed in the culture and language of today's Karachais. This is evidenced by elements of the eastern Kipchak and Mongolian languages (Kazakh, Karakalpak, etc.) in their languages.
After the fall of the Crimean Khanate (1783), the Karachai people became a colony of the Russian Empire. In 1862 the Karachai and Cherkass people fought with the Russian colonists. In 1864 the Karachai people of Circassia became completely Russian colonists and became victims of deportation. Since the 1880s, when the Caucasus was subordinate to Russia, most of the Karachai Balkars were forced to move to the Ottoman Empire. About 25,000 current descendants of the Karachai-Balkar people who lived in this period live in Turkey, about 10,000 live in the Middle East in Syria, and the other part lives in the United States.
From 1818 to 1821, the Russian Empire became the sole owner of the North Caucasus through the power of General Alexander Marmolov. Thus, the Karachais have been dependent on Russia for more than a century.
After the October Revolution of 1917, in 1918, the people of the Caucasus hoped to create a separate national state. However, after the bloodshed of the "white army", hope was lost. Subsequently, they are exposed to the invasion of the Red Army. And since 1920, it is part of the Soviet Union. In January 1921, it became the Karachai region of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR. Since January 1922 recognized as an autonomous region "Karachaevo-Sherkesh". The region was divided into two districts in 1926 as the Karachaevo autonomous region, the capital of which is Karachaevsk, and the Circassian region, which capital is Cherkessk.
In August 1942, the German army invaded Karachai and ruled there for five months. At this time, many residents of Karachaievo-Cherkessia suffered losses. The region was cleared of German troops by the beginning of 1943 and the locals were falsely accused of collaboration with the Nazi German Army. As a result, on November 2-5, 1943, all Karachais were forced to deportation.
During the deportation many Karachais died. The Svans, the ethnic group of the Georgians were placed in the lands of Karachai, geographically adjacent to the former Georgian SSR. After the death of Stalin and 14 years of exile, the Moscow authorities allowed them to return to their homeland in 1956 with the persistent demands of the Karacha-Balkarians. In 1957, the region was reorganized into the "Karachai-Sherkesh Autonomous Oblast". It was recognized as an independent autonomous state on August 3, 1991 and remained in the Russian Federation after the breakdown of the Soviet Union.
Years in exile
One of the main goals of the Soviet Union was to substitute concept of nations, ethnos by a new "Soviet person" image. In order to achieve this goal, the Soviets ruled out the use of force against the peoples of the country - the use of force to suppress the roots of the nation, to oppose their native language, and to prevent the recognition of the national traditions, ethnic history and other national values of the younger generation. The minor ethnic groups had been mostly subjected to such dictatorial assimilation. The Azerbaijanis, Karachai-Balkarians, Crimean Tatars, Turks, who are considered as less numerous nations had suffered a lot of reprisals.
There was a special reason for Stalin's policy of eliminating the Turkic people from the Caucasus and Crimea. It was the intention to control the Black Sea and the fear of Turkey proximity to this region. The massive punishment of 1937-38 affected all the peoples of the Soviet Union, especially the Karachai-Balkarians, the Crimean Tatars, and the Turks who suffered most from this kind of «ethnic cleansing policy". Only in Karachai-Cherkessia, 8,000 workers, 875 women were arrested. Most of the prisoners were executed, many were sent to various camps in the Caucasus.
In the summer of 1942, when the German army entered the Caucasus, over 15,000 Karachai men from 18 to 55 years were taken into the Nazi army; About 2000 women and disabled people were sent to defense or fortification works; The people were completely disarmed. The Germans came in August and retreated in early 1943. After the Red Army had libereated Karachai and Kabardino-Balkaria, many people were arrested as suspects. It meant the arrest of all the villagers in the region. All people of the able population was sent to labor camps in Nalchik and Kislovodsk. None of them returned back from these camps. The children and the elderly were also shot dead. The bombardment against the Karachais started two years earlier came to an end and many of the Karachai villages were destroyed.
In accordance with the Decree of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR from April 15, 1943 and the Decree of the Supreme Council on October 12, the entire population of Karachas was deported to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. On Nov. 2, the cold-blooded NKVD troops surrounded Karachai villages. Only 1 hour was given to villagers to get ready and allowed to get no more than 100 kg baggage. Those who tried to protest were shot; all people with their luggage were driven onto the trucks, and then dragged into freight cars. During the three-day operation 68,938 residents of the town of Karachai-Cherkess were expelled. The Karachai, travelled about three weeks in freight cars, then settled in 550 villages in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. There is a data that 45,529 people of them were settled to Zhambyl region in Kazakhstan.
The Soviet government tried to eliminate all the values of the deportees. In the deserted areas, the Russian peasants intensively settled, and the region, city, and even the state were renamed and destroyed. Kabardinian-Balkaria has been renamed to Cuban. The Republic of Karachai-Cherkessia was partitioned into the administrative regions of Stavropol and Krasnodar (Kaleshho) and transformed to the Georgian S.S.R.
After the death of Stalin, the democratization of the country began, and measures were taken to improve the living conditions of the exiled people. At the XX Congress of the Party, the "special restrictions" on the Balkars were removed after N.S. Khrushchev's speech condemning "Stalin's cult", and after November 1956, the people of Balkars were allowed to return to the native places. However, the restrictions imposed on the Turks, Karachais and Turks remained in force.
A special delegation of the Karachai people, demanding the return of the country and the restoration of the Karachai iautonomous district, compiled a special petition and sent it to Khrushchev on May 11, 1956. On June 2, the delegation was summoned to Moscow, where the issue was discussed with the authorities. On July 16, the Supreme Council did not approve their appeal. They did not get the right to return homeland and restore their property lost during the repressions. On November 26, the Karachai got the unofficial permission to return their homeland. Soon in the capital, Cherkessk, the Karachaevo-Cherkesh autonomous region was established.
The decree, allowed the Karachai and Balkar people to return back but the Karachai had not been excused from false accusation upon them. It also refers to the exercise of exile in accordance with the law. In addition, doubts and fears arose in connection with the creation of the Karachaevo-Sherkesh autonomous region in place of the independent Karachai region in case of unproved legality of their return.
The government did not provide any compensation for the lost property during the repressions. When the Balkarians and Karachai returned, they faced full destruction of their native archives, museums and national monuments. Priceless items of their cultural heritage as original embroidered or carved belts, family knives and bracelets inherited from their ancestors had been totally eliminated. The deaths of the elderly during the tragic events, led to the destruction of oral literature, legends and folk tales.
The allegations that the Karachais collaborated with the Germans were not recognized in any legal documents or media. None of the organizers of the repression was punished and was not even called to provide a report on the actions. There was a problem of housing due to the large number of new settlers returning to the Caucasus. The repatriates were placed in various industrial and agricultural suburbs, and the rest of the population was forced to live in worse conditions. There was no medical facility. The severe epidemic broke out in the summer of 1958. Residents of mountainous terrain had to move to the cities. For various reasons, the traditional structure of the Karachai people had changed. This led to an escalation of tension between different ethnic groups.
Karachai population and place of residence
12,342 families, it means 45,501 Karachais, 25,212 of whom were resettled in South Kazakhstan's Zhambyl oblast, were displaced In Kazakhstan, The majority of Karachai residents died in freight cars, and those who reached the destination were very sick. Those who were able to work were engaged in agriculture, working on cotton fields and potato crops. Young people were sent to hard work, such as mines, construction of railways and excavations. All of them had to work free from morning till night as "special immigrants". There were special laws and bans on "special immigrants". Among the accusations was the law of the family, which had the most painful explanation, "not to leave the established place," which prevented family members from seeing each other. They could not even go to the grave of their relative in the neighboring region. Those who did not obey this ban were arrested and even shot.
Nowadays November ,2 for Karachai-Cherkesh is a mourning day of the deportation of Karachai residents. 49 respondents interviewed in the open questionnaire in the framework of international project "When did you come to Kazakhstan?". 71.4% said that in 1943, 14.2% in 1944, while others did not respond. The reason for their arrival to Kazakhstan was 57.1% - deportation, 14.2% - repression, 14.2% - "father’s moving", and 14.3% did not give information.
In 1957, on the 3rd of May the first group of the Karachais started out to their historical homeland by train. This day witnessed the repatriation of Karachais to homeland. Currently the 3rd of May is celebrated as “Karachais’ revival”.
According to census data the population dynamics of the Karachais community in Kazakhstan is:
1970 – 2447
1979 – 2082
1989 – 2038
1999 – 1400
2009 – 995
According to figures of the Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan the number of Karachai community is decreasing. In comparison with the census data of 2009 the population of Karachais reduced by 1452 people.
Decrease of the Karachais’ population is determined by their massive repatriation. The Karachais involved in questionnaire of the project said that there are several reasons of their repatriation, for example “homesickness”, “emigration of relatives”, “repatriates will receive their former lands back”.
On the 14th of April, 1993 the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev endorsed the Law on Rehabilitation of Victims of Massive Political Repressions. Under this Law rehabilitated persons are liable to different preferences, thus the Karachais finally experienced improvements, the Karacahays over the age of 60 are granted a pension.
At the present day probably thousand Karachais live in Almaty, Pavlodar, Zhambyl and South Kazakhstan regions. 49 Karachais took part in the questionnaire reside in the following regions of Kazakhstan:
33 people (70,2%) – Zhambyl region,
6 people (12,8%) – Atyrau region,
4 people (8,5%) – Almaty region,
1 person (2,1%) – Aktobe region,
1 person (2,1%) – Akmola region,
2 people (4,3%) – unknown.
National and cultural associations of the Karachais, their language and culture support
There is national and cultural center of Karachai and Balkar community in Almaty which was founded in 1996. All members of this association are actively involved in social life of the republic; four of them are members of the Assembly of Nations of Kazakhstan. The center has an ethnographical folk dance group under the name of “Mingi tau”. In 2000 the association founded its youth sector.
The Karachai anf Balkar ethnographical cultural association “Mingi tau” has its subdivisions in Taldykorgan, Astana, Taraz, Shymkent, as well as in Sherbakty and Uspen districts of Pavlodar region. In 2009 the association issued their literary and public magazine “Mingi tau”.
The human rights of Karachais as well as of other ethnic groups who live in Kazakhstan are properly protected.
Linguistic situation
The Karachai language is the state language of the Karachai-Cherkess Republic (Russian Federation), the exogenic language of Karachai community in Kazakhstan.
The Karachai language belongs to the Kipchak group of the Western Turkic language family. Along with the fact that it is similar to Kumyk and Nogai languages, this language has some specific peculiarities. Form the lexical point of view (lexical aspects) it is close to above mentioned Turkic languages, but phonetically it is similar to the Turkic languages of Kipchak group (Kazakh, Kipchak, Uzbek-Kipchak languages) where instead of the consonant й at the beginning of the word the consonants ж-/дж- are used. Commonly the Karachai language is classified as Karachai-Balkar or Karachai-Malkar language, and scholars consider these single rooted two languages in tandem.
Mainly the Karachai language is very close to dialects of the Kipchak group which is modification of the literary Kipchak language used in the territory of The Golden Horde, especially in the valley of Volga and Ural, and in the western part of this state – the north of the Black Sea and Crimea, and in Khoresm - the south eastern part of The Golden Horde. To be more precise, it is similar to the language of the Crimean and Kazan Tatars, some Kipchak dialects, Kumyk and Nogaу languages. Therefore, we can say that the formation of the Karachai and Balkar languages was influenced by the Kipchak language peculiar to the Golden Horde. Despite the peculiarities of some vowel sounds this language is very close to the language of the Kazan Tatars.
As already mentioned above, the Karachai language is similar to the Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kyrgyz, Uzbek-Kipchak languages, which are based on the consonant sound of ж, and with the Tatar, Bashkir, Nogay languages, based on the consonant sound й. Below you will find information about some features of the Karachai language:
Word-formation system of Karachai language is rich for suffixes. Here are some suffixes of nouns: -lık, -lik, -luk, -lük - erkin-lik – «liberty», caşlık – «pillow», kün-lük – «umbrella», or suffixes of adjectives: -rak, -rek - ullu-rak – «greater», cahşırak – «better», gitçerek – «smaller», aruvurak – «more beautiful».
As you can see the peculiarities of Karachai language are relevant to Kipchak group. Up to this day west and home researchers have been considering the Karachai and Balkar language separately as Karachai language and Balkar language.
Such approach is explained by the fact that many scientists had no experience of communicating with the local population and were guided by language works and dictionaries published before.
Karachai and Balkar language formed the eastern branch of Kipchak languages in Caucasus. The Karachais and the Balkars call their language as Mountain or Mountainous language. In the course of historical development the Karachai and Balkar language was divided into two large dialects. But it is not divided into the Karachai language and the Balkar language, since this language, which was used in the Karachai region and the Baskhan, Chegem valleys in Balkaria, and later became their written language, is not divided. The second dialect is the Cherek dialect which was used in the valleys of Cherek, Khulam, Bizindi.
In the ethno-cultural centers of the cities of Taraz, Almaty and the South Kazakhstan region there are Sunday schools where the Karachai language is taught. The Karachai language is spoken in families where there is at least one representative of the Karachai people.
Orthography (writing)
Until 1924 the Karachais used the Arabic alphabet, since 1924 they switched to Latin, and in 1937 to Cyrillic. The alphabet based on Cyrillic changed twice - in 1961 and in 1964.
Modern Karachai-Balkar alphabet
Currently, about a thousand of Karachais live in Almaty, Pavlodar, Zhambyl and South-Kazakhstan region. Since 1996, the Karachai-Balkar diaspora has been actively cooperating with the ethno-cultural center "Ming Mountain".
Brief history and cultural features
The Ethnic Naming of Karachais
The Karachais are differentiated as one of the Turkic-speaking peoples of the North Caucasus, known as the Karachais, call themselves Karachaily. In addition, the Karachais call themselves as Alan/Alanla. The European scientist W. Prole, during the research in the North Caucasus in 1915, used the name Malkar (Balkar) only to the highlanders who lived near the slopes of the Cherek Mountain. People from Baskhan, Chegem and Karachai are named after the mountain slopes. That is, the people who lived in the foothills of the Church called themselves Malharly, people living in the foothills of Baskhan called themselves Baskhanchy, and for the residents of Karachai district used the naming of Karachaily. In fact, these people treat themselves as mountainous, and they call each other Alan.
The Bolsheviks, who conquered the Caucasus after the October Revolution of 1917, changed the new administrative system and united the Karachai region with Kabardin, Beslen and Abaza, and formed the Karachai-Sherkesh autonomous region. Then the Soviet government joined to the Kabardino-Balkarian autonomy, which was formed by the people living in the mountain gorges Baskhan, Chegem, Byzyngy, Kholam and Cherek. Thus, in 1922, the Karachai and the Balkar were separated into two independent nations.
The results of the expedition of W. Blake to Cherek in 1915 were published in the journal "Keleti Semle" in the article "Balkarische Studien ". After 1922, the Soviet government recognized the inhabitants of the Cherek region as the Balkars, along with Baskhan and Chegem inhabitants. All of these facts in the scientific community led to the formation of the naming Balkar and its separation from the Karachais.
Religion and Culture
Currently, almost all Karachais are Sunni Muslims, who adhere to the Hanafi mazkhab. The mass conversion to Islam began in the Middle Ages. According to the researchers, the immigration of Nogays and Crimean Tatars to the North Caucasus in the 17th century led to the Karachai’s conversion to Islam.
Like other Turkic peoples, Karachai's ancestors believed in shamanism, Christianity and other beliefs. There is evidence that the Karachais for a long time worshiped the Eternal Blue Sky, Tengri. It can be understood from the legends of Teyri and Umay-Ene that the Karachai-Balkars adhered to pre-Islamic ancient Turkic beliefs. Ancient Turks, known since the time of the empires of the Asian Huns (3rd century BC - 3rd century AD) and European Huns (5th-6th Century), believed in the Eternal Blue Sky, Tengri. Tengrism can be evidently traced in the heroic epics of Karachais (Karachas, Balkars 2014). There is evidence in the Armenian and Byzantine sources of the early Middle Ages that the Huns, who lived in the Caucasus, have a mysterious god named Tengri Khan. This proves that Karachais like other Turkic peoples of the Caucasus adhered to beliefs.
In addition, the presence of the Christian religion among the Karachais is also based on historical circumstances. In ancient times, Karachais as the people of the Caucasus also adhered to Christianity. Under the influence of Byzantium, Christianity began to spread in the Northern Caucasus in the Middle Ages, for example, in the ancient Turkic tribes of Bulghar, Sabyr, Kokturik and Khazar. It is also known that the Kipchak tribes, such as Kuman, Kum and Polovets, were closer to Christianity, and some of them converted to this religion. In the times of Kipchak Turks, who were the ancestors of Karachais, Christianity was a widespread religion in the North Caucasus. Information in medieval Byzantine, Arabic, Persian, Slavic and other sources confirms that the Karachais also adhered to Christianity. Today, names and customs associated with this religion are often found among the Karachais (Karachais, Balkars 2014).
From the customs, epics, traditions, fairy tales and legends of Karachais, we can see the common mythological motives of the local Caucasian tribes (Tavkul 2002: 265-267). Especially the melodies associated with the Mountain, river-water, wind, rain, soil, fire and other natural phenomena are found in the folklore of neighboring nations like Sherkesh, Kabarda, Ossetin and other Caucasian nations show the integrity of the oral literature of Karachai-Balkars. Ossetian scholar V.I.Abayev wrote that, despite the fact that the people of the Caucasus spoke different languages, they had a common culture (Abaev, 1933). Therefore, today we can say that the common culture, worldview and religion unite the Karachai-Balkar people, which are considered as separate nations.
75% of the respondents participated in the international project stated that they adhere to Islam, practice religious rites and marry only Muslims (http://tyurki.weebly.com/).
Folk oral and written literature
Kabarda and Karachai-Balkar nations have a common history, despite their differences in language, their literature developed together. The main source of Karachai-Balkan literature as the literature of other nations in the world is folklore. Scientists, who deeply studied the way of life, traditions and customs of Karachais in ancient times, wrote that their oral literature is very rich. For example, at the beginning of the 20th century a member of the Russian Geographical Society, ethnographer and the Caucasus expert G.F.Chursin reported in his writings that The Karachai melodies and peculiarities of performing folk songs acquired great appreciation among other neighboring Turkic nations of the Caucasus. Very rich oral literature of Karachais is closer to the art of speech of other people of the Caucasus on thematic and stylistic features (Chursin, 1913).
One of the important features of Karachai's oral literature is Nart Taurukhla, the epics of Nart. The Nart epics are a common heritage for the Karachai-Balkarian Turks and the neighboring ethnoses of the Caucasus, who speak different languages (Abaev, 1933). According to the mythology of the Caucasus, Narts are legendary heroes who are the ancestors of all nations inhabited the Caucasus. In Nart's epics it is mentioned that they tamed horses, melted metal, and made the first weapon. Narts became a symbol of courage, bravery, kindness and culture of the Caucasian people. Narts were the most intelligent, resourceful and skillful warriors, and they won their powerful enemies not only with power and diligence, but also with intellectual abilities. As mentioned above, the Nart epics are the only creative works of literature that unite the Caucasian people, differ from each other in language and mentality and ethnic origin. Nart epics are the most ancient works of oral literature of the Karachai-Balkarian Turks, as well as Adyghe (Shekesh), Abkhazian, Ossetian and Chechen-Ingush nations.
Beside of Nart epics, which are part of Karachai folklore, heroic epics and historical epics are the most important spiritual and cultural heritage. Zhyrshy, who are folk poets, sang of history, social structure of Karachais, their relationship with other peoples of the Caucasus and the fight for freedom against Russia (Kazakh literature, 2005: 238).
The epic "Avchy Bioynoger" ("Hunter Binoger") is one of the most ancient works of literature of Karachai-Balkar folklore. The battle of Karchi with shahzads from Kabard is depicted in the epic "Batyr Karcha". Karachai-Balkar folk literature tells about the feats of the Kabardian shahzads. It is surprising that such epics are valuable both in the literature of the Kabardian nations, and in the literature of the Karachai-Malkar nation. The people of Karashay-Malkar have appropriated the heroes of these epics, and the Kabardinian heroes such as Achemez and Zhansoh later became known as heroes of the Karachai-Balkar nation.
The historical epics of the Karachais also depicted the struggle for freedom against Russia. There was the battle under the command of General Emanuel against the Russian army in the district of Khasavka in 1828, the epic "Khasavka" and the epic of the deceased "Umai" are examples of the Russian-Karachai war.
It is up to the narrators who had contributed much to the dissemination of folklore works, its development till the present time. Numerous works of oral literature have become a noble heritage of nation. The narrators of the epics of Karachais were forgotten, the epics itself had changed over the centuries and spread by word of mouth from generation to generation.
Among the poets of the Karachai-Balkar people Zantudi has a special place, who lived in the 18th century, more precisely, between 1695 and 1798. His epic about the Kabardian prince Kaitukuly Aslanbek was widely known, and later became a popular epic poem.
One of the well-known Karachais’ poets was Kasbot, who lived in the nineteenth century. Kasbot was born in a poor family of the Kochkor tribe of Karachai generation in 1834 in Uchkulan village. In his poems he described difficult fate of Karachai-Balkar Turks, who freely mastered Sherkesh and Georgian languages and enjoyed the warmth of their people. In his poems, which soon became popular among the people, the poet touched upon the social themes of inequality in the Karachai-Balkar society, the conflicts between the wealthy and the poor. Today, his heroic poems like "Barrak", "Souls", "Kanamat", and "Gapalaw" have become popular poetry that have changed over the time. During the Soviet era, the Karachai literature had been distinguished by the names of new poets - B.M.Pachev, P. Keshokov, T. Borukaev, Ali Shogentsukov, A. Keshokov, K.Kuliev, A.Naloyev.
Modern Karachai-Balkar literary scholars published a collection of poems by Karachaevo-Balkar poets and writers entitled "Zhiltinle" in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek under the title "Brother's Word" (Baur's Word) and "Dzhashabuzna Bayrahi" ("The Life of Our Life" ). In 1956 was published Kerim Otar's book "Roads", which describes the bitter fate of the Karachai people in exile.
Karachai-Balkarians began returning to their homeland, the Caucasus in 1957. 1959-1961 yy. was a productive period, represented by many new books to the readers of Karachai literature. The works of Karachai poets and writers, who were repressed and became an enemy of the people during the Second World War, were reprinted in the press. In 1970ies Karachai-Balkar literature witnessed the period of its revival. Such young writers as Abdullah Baghi, Asker Dodu, Svetlana Mottay, Mutalip Beppay, Muradin Malmeiz, Sakinat Musuka, Musa Baida contributed their works to a new era of literature. Almost all these young poets were descendants of those who were deported from the Caucasus in the 1950s (Tavkul 2002: 270-277).
Location and population (demography)
The most prevalent place of Karachais is the Karachaevo-Sherkesh autonomous district of the Russian Federation. The population is about 300 thousand people. Most of the Karachais live in the Caucasus today. Its location is the Republic of Karachaevo-Sherkesh, subordinate to the Russian Federation in the so-called Northern Caucasus. The north-eastern Black Sea region of Karachai-Cherkessia is a region of the districts of Uchkulan, Teberda and Zelenchuk on the banks of the river Coban. The capital of Karachai-Cherkessia is the capital of Cherkessk. The territory of the republic is 14.1 thousand km2. At present, the population of Karachais is growing. According to the data, the population of the Karachai-Cherkess Republic currently makes up 466,666 people, while the Karachai make up more than 38.5% of the republic's population. According to the 2005 census, the number of Karachais is 218403. It is also known that tens of thousands of Karachais live in Turkey and Syria, the United States and the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Cultural Anthropology
The Karachais do not differ much from other neighboring Caucasian people in terms of cultural and anthropological type. Their features are similar to Ossetians, Kabordinians, Bolkars and others. They are representatives of the Caucasian group of the European race. They have light skin, an oval-shaped head, thick eyebrows, large, black (sometimes green) eyes, a thin nose, a tightened body and high height. In addition, many Karachai-Balkar people are similar to the Karachais, who have similarity to the brachycephalic group of the European race, which was also observed during the periods of the ancient Eastern, Turkestan and Central Anatolian Turks, known as "turbanid". It is worth noting that some of the Karachai have monoglobal symptoms.
The two-thousand-year history of the anthropological character of Karachais in the North Caucasus is directly related to their ethnic origin. As a result of communication and mixing of Turkish peoples with Caucasian tribes (to marry a representative of another people, to marry a girl of another people, language changes), Karachais have such an anthropological character. In particular, the Karachai people have a briehecephalic European type observed in the Kipchak Turks who lived in the Middle Ages. This is probably the result of a long relationship with the Kypchaks, who ruled the North Caucasus for a long time. (Anchabidze, 1960: 113-120).
The social and family structure of Karachais, their cultural way of life, national costumes, music and dancing, food culture are different from other North Caucasian tribes. However, Caucasian national headgear, thin and long black trousers (long chapan), luxurious patterns on dresses, female and male dance manners, musical instruments and their harmony, Turkic (folk songs) and other songs are compatible with the people of the North Caucasus (Karachais, Balkarians 2014).
History
Since the earliest times the Karachai people lived in the foothills of Elbrus, the highest peak of the Caucasus and deep valleys. Karachai people called the Elbrus Peak "Bengu Daa" - the eternal mountain. These two nations inhabited two sides of the mountain, the Karachais on one side , the Bolkars settled on the other side of the mountain. Despite their twodifferent geographic location, there is no difference in their culture and language. However, the history and language of Karachais and Balkarians is often promoted separately. The ancient Karachai-Balkar tribes, called Turks in ancient writings, who lived for several centuries on the highest peaks and ruins of the Caucasian mountains, began to move to the plains during the period of collectivization in the 1920s.
As a result of historical, anthropological, archaeological and linguistic studies it was established that the Karachai-Balkarian family was a descendant of the Turkish tribal community prevailed in these regions. In particular, the Central Asian tribes of which the prototype Khun, Vesna, Khazar, Hagar, Kipchak and others, who moved to the North Caucasus in the first centuries of our era, played an important role in the formation of their ethnic structure. In addition, several nomadic tribes of Turkish or non-Turkish tribes joined the ethnogeny of the Karachai-Balkar people. In fact, from the middle of the millennium BC, the Saka (Iskit) tribal associations formed and ruled in the Eurasian desert belonging to the North Caucasus. Saki are considered the ancestors of many local tribes, including Karachai, inhabiting the North Caucasus. Karachai-Balkarian ethnos comes from ancient ethnos, tribes such as Alan, As, etc. Despite the fact that ethnic and linguistic origin is a matter of controversy, they come from the Indian-European language family and belong to the group of Iranian languages. In the I century AD they moved from Central Asia to the North Caucasus and joined local tribes, including the Protatiri tribes (Meliket-bey, 1960: 114). In the ethnic structure of the modern Ossetian and Karachai-Balkar peoples, the tribes of the Alan and the altar occupy a special place on the basis of their distinctive features (in terms of culture, folklore, anthropology, language, etc.). In addition, the naming of Alan or As given to Karachais by neighboring tribes proves the existence of this ethnic historical period. The Ossetians called them Asiagi / Aassons, and Georgians Alani / Az / Ovs.
In the second half of the 6th century AD, the Turkic Khaganate (552-744), which was a triumph in the Eurasian steppes, conquered the North Caucasus in the 570s. Subsequently, part of the Turkish tribes on these lands increased. In the year of 630, the clan under the ruler of the Turkic Ashina Khaganate formed the Khazar Khaganat, whose territory stretched from the North Caucasus to the Volga and the Caspian Sea. The capital is located in the Lower Volga and the northwest of the Caspian Sea. They ruled for 630-969 years (Artemonov, 1962). The Turkic population increased significantly during the three centuries of Khazar state rule on the lands of Western Eurasia. The Khazar Khaganate had a great influence on the formation of tribes, especially the Azerbaijani, Sogdian, Karachai-Balkarian and Crimean Tatars. At present, the remains of ancient Turkish cultural heritage are still being discovered on the territory of the North Caucasus, on the Kuban and Don rivers. Archeological finds include ceramic and iron products, stone sculptures from ancient Turkic writing, various jewelry from gold and silver belonging to the Turkic Khaganate and the Khazar Khanate. In particular, such a cultural heritage is considered a legacy of ancestors from the Karachai-Balkar people and exposed to the audience in museums nowadays. Karachai scholar-scientist S. Baichorov studies ancient Turkic inscriptions found in the North Caucasus (Baichorov, 1989). In the culture and history of the Karachai people, Kumyk and the Turks of the North Caucasus, there are vivid traces of the Turkic and Khazar kaganates.
Undoubtedly, the influence of the Kipchaks on the ethnic development of Karachais after the ancient Turkic era was significant. Moreover, the fact that the people belonged to the Kipchak language group is connected with the establishment of the political domination of the Kipchaks in Eurasia. In the region of Eurasian lands, namely the steppe regions of modern Kazakhstan, the state of Kipchak was generally in the XI-XIII centuries before the conquest of the Mongols. Originally, the Kipchak Turks living in the eastern and north-eastern parts of Central Asia conquered the Oguz land, which lies between the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea in the second half of the 11th century, and since that time began the resettlement in the Volga-Urals, North Caucasus, Black Sea region of the Tropical and Eastern Europe. Some of these Kipchak tribes moved southwest of the Eurasian steppes and settled in the North Caucasus, and the other part went south to settle in Georgia. The last stop is that the Kipchaks who chose these lands are the basis for the full ethnic formation of the Karachai-Balkar people.
Many of the Turkic tribes, led by the Kypchak tribes of Toksob and Borzhuly, whom the Byzantines called the Kun, and the Russians Polovets, migrated from Eastern Russia and the Black Sea to the borders of Byzantium, that is, to Eastern Europe. The formation of the Kipchak state, the emergence of dozens of Kipchak tribes in the Eurasian steppe led to widespread popularization of the Kipchak language group.
Another factor that influenced the ethnic composition of the Karachais is connected with the Mongol invasion. To the east of Central Asia in the first quarter of the 13th century Mongolian and Turkic tribes under the leadership of Genghis Khan conquered many Kipchak tribes who ruled in the North Caucasus and around it (the Volga-Ural region, north of the Black Sea, the plains of Eastern Russia, etc.). This region later became the Golden Horde (1224 / 1240-1383). Later the Golden Horde broke up into the following states, the Kazan (1438-1552), the Crimean (1441-1783), the Astrakhan (1459-1556), the Tyumen (Siberia, 1468-1607), the Uzbek (Abulkhair 1428-1468, Shaibani - 1501- 1601) and the Kazakh Khanate (1465-1822 / 1847), as well as the Nogai Horde (1440-1634). Among these countries, the Crimean and Astrakhan khanates and the Nogai horde dominated the North Caucasus, which had a political and cultural impact on the local population. During this period, the number of Turkish and Turkish-Mongolian tribes from Turkestan and Mongolia increased in the North Caucasus. They joined the ancient tribes of the Kipchak tribes and became part of the ethnic composition of the Karachai people. Such a situation is observed in the culture and language of today's Karachais. This is evidenced by elements of the eastern Kipchak and Mongolian languages (Kazakh, Karakalpak, etc.) in their languages.
After the fall of the Crimean Khanate (1783), the Karachai people became a colony of the Russian Empire. In 1862 the Karachai and Cherkass people fought with the Russian colonists. In 1864 the Karachai people of Circassia became completely Russian colonists and became victims of deportation. Since the 1880s, when the Caucasus was subordinate to Russia, most of the Karachai Balkars were forced to move to the Ottoman Empire. About 25,000 current descendants of the Karachai-Balkar people who lived in this period live in Turkey, about 10,000 live in the Middle East in Syria, and the other part lives in the United States.
From 1818 to 1821, the Russian Empire became the sole owner of the North Caucasus through the power of General Alexander Marmolov. Thus, the Karachais have been dependent on Russia for more than a century.
After the October Revolution of 1917, in 1918, the people of the Caucasus hoped to create a separate national state. However, after the bloodshed of the "white army", hope was lost. Subsequently, they are exposed to the invasion of the Red Army. And since 1920, it is part of the Soviet Union. In January 1921, it became the Karachai region of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR. Since January 1922 recognized as an autonomous region "Karachaevo-Sherkesh". The region was divided into two districts in 1926 as the Karachaevo autonomous region, the capital of which is Karachaevsk, and the Circassian region, which capital is Cherkessk.
In August 1942, the German army invaded Karachai and ruled there for five months. At this time, many residents of Karachaievo-Cherkessia suffered losses. The region was cleared of German troops by the beginning of 1943 and the locals were falsely accused of collaboration with the Nazi German Army. As a result, on November 2-5, 1943, all Karachais were forced to deportation.
During the deportation many Karachais died. The Svans, the ethnic group of the Georgians were placed in the lands of Karachai, geographically adjacent to the former Georgian SSR. After the death of Stalin and 14 years of exile, the Moscow authorities allowed them to return to their homeland in 1956 with the persistent demands of the Karacha-Balkarians. In 1957, the region was reorganized into the "Karachai-Sherkesh Autonomous Oblast". It was recognized as an independent autonomous state on August 3, 1991 and remained in the Russian Federation after the breakdown of the Soviet Union.
Years in exile
One of the main goals of the Soviet Union was to substitute concept of nations, ethnos by a new "Soviet person" image. In order to achieve this goal, the Soviets ruled out the use of force against the peoples of the country - the use of force to suppress the roots of the nation, to oppose their native language, and to prevent the recognition of the national traditions, ethnic history and other national values of the younger generation. The minor ethnic groups had been mostly subjected to such dictatorial assimilation. The Azerbaijanis, Karachai-Balkarians, Crimean Tatars, Turks, who are considered as less numerous nations had suffered a lot of reprisals.
There was a special reason for Stalin's policy of eliminating the Turkic people from the Caucasus and Crimea. It was the intention to control the Black Sea and the fear of Turkey proximity to this region. The massive punishment of 1937-38 affected all the peoples of the Soviet Union, especially the Karachai-Balkarians, the Crimean Tatars, and the Turks who suffered most from this kind of «ethnic cleansing policy". Only in Karachai-Cherkessia, 8,000 workers, 875 women were arrested. Most of the prisoners were executed, many were sent to various camps in the Caucasus.
In the summer of 1942, when the German army entered the Caucasus, over 15,000 Karachai men from 18 to 55 years were taken into the Nazi army; About 2000 women and disabled people were sent to defense or fortification works; The people were completely disarmed. The Germans came in August and retreated in early 1943. After the Red Army had libereated Karachai and Kabardino-Balkaria, many people were arrested as suspects. It meant the arrest of all the villagers in the region. All people of the able population was sent to labor camps in Nalchik and Kislovodsk. None of them returned back from these camps. The children and the elderly were also shot dead. The bombardment against the Karachais started two years earlier came to an end and many of the Karachai villages were destroyed.
In accordance with the Decree of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR from April 15, 1943 and the Decree of the Supreme Council on October 12, the entire population of Karachas was deported to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. On Nov. 2, the cold-blooded NKVD troops surrounded Karachai villages. Only 1 hour was given to villagers to get ready and allowed to get no more than 100 kg baggage. Those who tried to protest were shot; all people with their luggage were driven onto the trucks, and then dragged into freight cars. During the three-day operation 68,938 residents of the town of Karachai-Cherkess were expelled. The Karachai, travelled about three weeks in freight cars, then settled in 550 villages in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. There is a data that 45,529 people of them were settled to Zhambyl region in Kazakhstan.
The Soviet government tried to eliminate all the values of the deportees. In the deserted areas, the Russian peasants intensively settled, and the region, city, and even the state were renamed and destroyed. Kabardinian-Balkaria has been renamed to Cuban. The Republic of Karachai-Cherkessia was partitioned into the administrative regions of Stavropol and Krasnodar (Kaleshho) and transformed to the Georgian S.S.R.
After the death of Stalin, the democratization of the country began, and measures were taken to improve the living conditions of the exiled people. At the XX Congress of the Party, the "special restrictions" on the Balkars were removed after N.S. Khrushchev's speech condemning "Stalin's cult", and after November 1956, the people of Balkars were allowed to return to the native places. However, the restrictions imposed on the Turks, Karachais and Turks remained in force.
A special delegation of the Karachai people, demanding the return of the country and the restoration of the Karachai iautonomous district, compiled a special petition and sent it to Khrushchev on May 11, 1956. On June 2, the delegation was summoned to Moscow, where the issue was discussed with the authorities. On July 16, the Supreme Council did not approve their appeal. They did not get the right to return homeland and restore their property lost during the repressions. On November 26, the Karachai got the unofficial permission to return their homeland. Soon in the capital, Cherkessk, the Karachaevo-Cherkesh autonomous region was established.
The decree, allowed the Karachai and Balkar people to return back but the Karachai had not been excused from false accusation upon them. It also refers to the exercise of exile in accordance with the law. In addition, doubts and fears arose in connection with the creation of the Karachaevo-Sherkesh autonomous region in place of the independent Karachai region in case of unproved legality of their return.
The government did not provide any compensation for the lost property during the repressions. When the Balkarians and Karachai returned, they faced full destruction of their native archives, museums and national monuments. Priceless items of their cultural heritage as original embroidered or carved belts, family knives and bracelets inherited from their ancestors had been totally eliminated. The deaths of the elderly during the tragic events, led to the destruction of oral literature, legends and folk tales.
The allegations that the Karachais collaborated with the Germans were not recognized in any legal documents or media. None of the organizers of the repression was punished and was not even called to provide a report on the actions. There was a problem of housing due to the large number of new settlers returning to the Caucasus. The repatriates were placed in various industrial and agricultural suburbs, and the rest of the population was forced to live in worse conditions. There was no medical facility. The severe epidemic broke out in the summer of 1958. Residents of mountainous terrain had to move to the cities. For various reasons, the traditional structure of the Karachai people had changed. This led to an escalation of tension between different ethnic groups.
Karachai population and place of residence
12,342 families, it means 45,501 Karachais, 25,212 of whom were resettled in South Kazakhstan's Zhambyl oblast, were displaced In Kazakhstan, The majority of Karachai residents died in freight cars, and those who reached the destination were very sick. Those who were able to work were engaged in agriculture, working on cotton fields and potato crops. Young people were sent to hard work, such as mines, construction of railways and excavations. All of them had to work free from morning till night as "special immigrants". There were special laws and bans on "special immigrants". Among the accusations was the law of the family, which had the most painful explanation, "not to leave the established place," which prevented family members from seeing each other. They could not even go to the grave of their relative in the neighboring region. Those who did not obey this ban were arrested and even shot.
Nowadays November ,2 for Karachai-Cherkesh is a mourning day of the deportation of Karachai residents. 49 respondents interviewed in the open questionnaire in the framework of international project "When did you come to Kazakhstan?". 71.4% said that in 1943, 14.2% in 1944, while others did not respond. The reason for their arrival to Kazakhstan was 57.1% - deportation, 14.2% - repression, 14.2% - "father’s moving", and 14.3% did not give information.
In 1957, on the 3rd of May the first group of the Karachais started out to their historical homeland by train. This day witnessed the repatriation of Karachais to homeland. Currently the 3rd of May is celebrated as “Karachais’ revival”.
According to census data the population dynamics of the Karachais community in Kazakhstan is:
1970 – 2447
1979 – 2082
1989 – 2038
1999 – 1400
2009 – 995
According to figures of the Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan the number of Karachai community is decreasing. In comparison with the census data of 2009 the population of Karachais reduced by 1452 people.
Decrease of the Karachais’ population is determined by their massive repatriation. The Karachais involved in questionnaire of the project said that there are several reasons of their repatriation, for example “homesickness”, “emigration of relatives”, “repatriates will receive their former lands back”.
On the 14th of April, 1993 the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev endorsed the Law on Rehabilitation of Victims of Massive Political Repressions. Under this Law rehabilitated persons are liable to different preferences, thus the Karachais finally experienced improvements, the Karacahays over the age of 60 are granted a pension.
At the present day probably thousand Karachais live in Almaty, Pavlodar, Zhambyl and South Kazakhstan regions. 49 Karachais took part in the questionnaire reside in the following regions of Kazakhstan:
33 people (70,2%) – Zhambyl region,
6 people (12,8%) – Atyrau region,
4 people (8,5%) – Almaty region,
1 person (2,1%) – Aktobe region,
1 person (2,1%) – Akmola region,
2 people (4,3%) – unknown.
National and cultural associations of the Karachais, their language and culture support
There is national and cultural center of Karachai and Balkar community in Almaty which was founded in 1996. All members of this association are actively involved in social life of the republic; four of them are members of the Assembly of Nations of Kazakhstan. The center has an ethnographical folk dance group under the name of “Mingi tau”. In 2000 the association founded its youth sector.
The Karachai anf Balkar ethnographical cultural association “Mingi tau” has its subdivisions in Taldykorgan, Astana, Taraz, Shymkent, as well as in Sherbakty and Uspen districts of Pavlodar region. In 2009 the association issued their literary and public magazine “Mingi tau”.
The human rights of Karachais as well as of other ethnic groups who live in Kazakhstan are properly protected.
Linguistic situation
The Karachai language is the state language of the Karachai-Cherkess Republic (Russian Federation), the exogenic language of Karachai community in Kazakhstan.
The Karachai language belongs to the Kipchak group of the Western Turkic language family. Along with the fact that it is similar to Kumyk and Nogai languages, this language has some specific peculiarities. Form the lexical point of view (lexical aspects) it is close to above mentioned Turkic languages, but phonetically it is similar to the Turkic languages of Kipchak group (Kazakh, Kipchak, Uzbek-Kipchak languages) where instead of the consonant й at the beginning of the word the consonants ж-/дж- are used. Commonly the Karachai language is classified as Karachai-Balkar or Karachai-Malkar language, and scholars consider these single rooted two languages in tandem.
Mainly the Karachai language is very close to dialects of the Kipchak group which is modification of the literary Kipchak language used in the territory of The Golden Horde, especially in the valley of Volga and Ural, and in the western part of this state – the north of the Black Sea and Crimea, and in Khoresm - the south eastern part of The Golden Horde. To be more precise, it is similar to the language of the Crimean and Kazan Tatars, some Kipchak dialects, Kumyk and Nogaу languages. Therefore, we can say that the formation of the Karachai and Balkar languages was influenced by the Kipchak language peculiar to the Golden Horde. Despite the peculiarities of some vowel sounds this language is very close to the language of the Kazan Tatars.
As already mentioned above, the Karachai language is similar to the Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kyrgyz, Uzbek-Kipchak languages, which are based on the consonant sound of ж, and with the Tatar, Bashkir, Nogay languages, based on the consonant sound й. Below you will find information about some features of the Karachai language:
- The sound of -ğ at the end of the word in ancient Turkic language morphs into bilabial sound of v (у) in Karachai language: asığ > asuv – «benefit, fortune», tağ > tav – «mountain», yağı > cav – «enemy», arığ > aruv – «beauty»;
- The sound of -ğ / -g in the middle of the word in ancient Turkic language morphs into the sound of -y (й) in Karachai language: yıg- > cıy- – «to gather», yigirmä > cıyırma – «twenty», sıgıt > sıyıt – «to sob», tüg- > tüy- – «to tie, to bind»;
- The nasal sound of -n (ң) in the middle of the word in ancient Turkic language morphs into the liquid consonant of v (у) in Karachai language: tengri > teyri – « the Supreme Being», süngük > süyek – «bone», yangak > cayak – «jaw», müngüz > müyüz – «horn»;
- The sound of –b at the end of the word in ancient Turkic language morphs into the sound of -m (м) in Karachai language: bin-> min- – «to get on, to mount», bengü > mingi – « everlasting, perpetual», bin > ming – «thousand», bıyık > mıyık, ben > men, Balkar >Malkar;
- The sound of -d at the end of the word in ancient Turkic language morphs into the sound of - y (й) in Karachai language: adak > ayak – «leg», idi > iye – «owner», ıd- > iy- – «to release, to through», adrı > ayrı – « hay-fork», kadır- > kayır- – «to cuff, to roll up», ked- > kiy- – «to put on, to wear», kidiz > kiyiz – « fibre felt», küdegü > küyöv – «husband».
Word-formation system of Karachai language is rich for suffixes. Here are some suffixes of nouns: -lık, -lik, -luk, -lük - erkin-lik – «liberty», caşlık – «pillow», kün-lük – «umbrella», or suffixes of adjectives: -rak, -rek - ullu-rak – «greater», cahşırak – «better», gitçerek – «smaller», aruvurak – «more beautiful».
As you can see the peculiarities of Karachai language are relevant to Kipchak group. Up to this day west and home researchers have been considering the Karachai and Balkar language separately as Karachai language and Balkar language.
Such approach is explained by the fact that many scientists had no experience of communicating with the local population and were guided by language works and dictionaries published before.
Karachai and Balkar language formed the eastern branch of Kipchak languages in Caucasus. The Karachais and the Balkars call their language as Mountain or Mountainous language. In the course of historical development the Karachai and Balkar language was divided into two large dialects. But it is not divided into the Karachai language and the Balkar language, since this language, which was used in the Karachai region and the Baskhan, Chegem valleys in Balkaria, and later became their written language, is not divided. The second dialect is the Cherek dialect which was used in the valleys of Cherek, Khulam, Bizindi.
In the ethno-cultural centers of the cities of Taraz, Almaty and the South Kazakhstan region there are Sunday schools where the Karachai language is taught. The Karachai language is spoken in families where there is at least one representative of the Karachai people.
Orthography (writing)
Until 1924 the Karachais used the Arabic alphabet, since 1924 they switched to Latin, and in 1937 to Cyrillic. The alphabet based on Cyrillic changed twice - in 1961 and in 1964.
Modern Karachai-Balkar alphabet
Statistical analysis of social linguistic situation according to the questionnaire
The questionnaire for analysis of social linguistic situation of the Karachais was conducted by students and master students of Turkology department of the Eurasian National University named after L.N. Gumilev and Taraz State University named after M. Dulati. Kazakh and German scientists – participants to the international project “Interaction of language and culture of Turk people in post-soviet Kazakhstan” – launched expeditions to all regions of Kazakhstan from March 2014 till May 2016, students and master’s students of these educational institutions also had been involved there.
Field linguistic studies have made it possible to collect very rare linguistic materials on the Turkic languages of Kazakhstan. Audio and video materials were documented, and then separate transcription was made for each piece of oral speech. On completion of the interview, a questionnaire on metadata was filled. To date, 995 Karachais officially reside in Kazakhstan, 49 of them participated in the survey.
According to the survey conducted under the scope of the project, all Karachai families are aware of when and how their forefathers were resettled in Kazakh land, and can baсk it up with facts. On the question “When did you moved?” 13 (26%) of 49 Karachais answered “in 1943”, 4 (8,1%) Karachais answered “in 1943-44”, 5 (10,2%) Karachais answered “in 1944”, as for the reasons of migration 9 (18,3%) Karachais answered that they had been resettled because of “deportation”, 2 (4%) Karachais answered “mass migration”, 2 (4%) Karachais answered “father’s migration”, the answer of 10 (20,4%) Karachais was “repression”, 25 (51%) Karachais answered “military recovery”. When asked “Are you resettled/deported to Kazakhstan?” 20 people (42,6%) replied “yes”, 13 people (27,7%) replied “no” and 14 people (29,7%) were undecided. The questionnaire had the following question: “Why did your family move to Kazakhstan?”. 10 (20,4%) Karachais answered that it had been “deportation”, 5 (10,2%) Karachais said that they didn’t known and 34 (69,3%) respondents didn’t answer.
Nevertheless, as we have already mentioned, the reason for their mass resettlement to Kazakhstan lies in the accusation of the Karachais that they were in collusion with the Germans during the Second World War. Although the reason for their resettlement is known, all the Karachai people still dare not speak openly about this. The fear of deportation, which broke the fate of tens of thousands of Karachai families, has spread nationwide, and today negatively effects on the ethnic psychology of their descendants.
National identity (ID card): 47 (96.4%) out of 49 interviewed respondents are Karachais.
Ethnical self-identification: 27 (57.4%) respondents consider themselves as Karachais, 5 (10.6%) people as Kazakhs, and 15 (30.6%) people didn’t answer.
According to ID cards almost all representatives of the Karachai diaspora are Karachais, however it has been found that more than half of them consider themselves Karachais and more than 10 percent see themselves as Kazakhs.
Most of the Karachai people intermarry with representatives of their own and the Kazakh nation. The results of the survey can be presented in the following percentage:
Father’s ethnic origin: 45 (95,7%) people –Karachais; 1 (2,1%) people – Kirghiz; 1 (2,1%) – Azerbaijanian. The analysis shows predominance of the Karachai nation on father’s side and only two cases when the father is a Kirghiz and an Azerbaijani.
On mother’s side we found 5 ethnicities: 31 (66%) people – Karachais, 12 (25,5%) – Kazakhs; 2 (4,3%) – Balkars; 1 (2,1%) – Kirghiz; 1 (2,1%) – unknown.
Thus, the ethnic marker that identifies the ethnicity is the father's side (Karachai), that is, the ethnicity of the child is determined by the father's ethnicity. This is due to the overwhelming authority of the father in the Karachai families and the fact that the families are dominated by the Islamic mentality.
In the Karachai families that live in Kazakhstan there are cross marriages and there are no restrictions on them, only in some families (10.6%) marriages with the Slavs, in particular with the Russians, are frowned upon. Nevertheless, in order to preserve national values and their native language within the family, they try to marry their sons and daughters to Karachais.
The national ratio in the cross marriages of the Karachais is as follows:
18 (38,3%) people married Kazakhs;
17 (36,2%) people married Karachais,
2 (4,3%) people married Russians,
2 (4,3%) people married other ethnicities,
8 respondents – no information available.
Ethnicity of a child in cross marriages:
26 (55,3%) people determined their children as Karachais,
11 (23,4%) people determined their children as Kazakhs,
1 (1,8%) person indicated another ethnicity,
9 (19,1%) people didn’t mentioned the ethnicity of a child,
1 person Tatarian and 1 person Uighur (0,6%).
All survey participants note the importance of getting education in their native language, but they veraciously admit that due to the rundown of elders, the number of representatives of the Diaspora speaking the Karachai language decreases, which means that the functional area of the native language is reduced. Elderly Karachai people are fluent in their native language, the middle generation understands their language, but young people do not speak Karachai at all. Young Karachai people are characterized by Russian-Kazakh bilingualism.
The data obtained by the analysis of the attitude of the Karachai people to their native language look as follows:
The answers given to the question “Which language do you speak with preschool children in family?”:
18 (38,3%) – only in Karachai language;
16 (34%) – only in Kazakh language;
5 (10,6) – only in Russian language;
1 (2,1%) – in Kazakh and Russian languages;
7 (14,9%) – no information available.
The answers given to the question “Which language do you speak with school-aged children in family?”:
17 (36,2%) – only in Kazakh language;
13 (27,7%) – in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
7 (14,9) – in Kazakh and Russian languages;
1 (2,1%) – in Kazakh and Russian languages;
5 (10,6) – only in KARACHAI language;
4 (8,5) – only in Russian language;
1 (2,1%) – no information available.
The communication language of the adult members of family:
18 (38,3%) – only Karachai language;
17 (36,2%) – only Kazakh language;
6 (12,8%) – Kazakh and Russian languages;
3 (6,4) – only Russian language;
2 (4,3%) – Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
1 (2,1%) – no information available.
The answers given to the question “What language do you speak with other ethnics?”:
25 (53,2) – Kazakh and Russian languages;;
18 (38,3%) – only Kazakh language;
3 (6,4) – only Russian language;
1 (2,1%) – no information available.
The analysis of linguistic situation shows that the Karachais in Kazakhstan do not have any problems on language issues. The majority of Karachais (36,2%) are fluent in Kazakh, and most of them (50%) can communicate in Kazakh. The majority of respondents said they had not faced violations of their rights on language issues. With subsequent improvement of the language situation in the country, the majority of the Karachai ethnic group note an increase in command of Kazakh language in conjunction with Russian language. The bilingualism of Karachais in Kazakhstan can be considered as successful model of language policy who speak the state Kazakh language and the official Russian language (91.5%), and their ambitions for trilingualism (4.3%) are meant to be contribution to the country's strategic development. At the same time the young generation expresses concern about the functional use of Karachai language which is getting less.
Well, according to the survey findings:
27 (57,4%) people – fluent in Azerbaijanian, Balkar, Kazakh and Karachai languages;
25 (53,2%) people – read fluently in Balkar, Kazakh and Russian languages;
20 (42,6%) people –easily write in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
24 (51,1%) people – speak Azerbaijanian, Balkar, Kazakh and Karachai languages;
36 (76,5%) people – read fluently books, newspapers, magazines and TV and radio shows in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
42 (89,4%) people – listen and understand lectures, interviews, reports, TV and radio shows in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
42 (89,4%) people – listen and understand concerts and stage plays in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
36 (76,6%) people – replied that they watch movies in Kazakh and Russian languages without translation into mother tongue.
All respondents specify themselves as full-fledged members of their ethnic group. Determining their personality, Karachais, first of all, consider themselves as part of ethnic values system (among 47 respondents 44 (97%) people preach Islam), and only then identify themselves as Kazakh people (96.4%).
Representatives of the Karachai diaspora in Kazakhstan note that there are no disagreements and conflicts among the Kazakhs and other ethnic groups living in the country. Answering this question, 25 (51%) respondents indicated the absence of conflicts, 23 (46.9%) of the polled Karachai people did not give an answer, and only one person (2%) expressed animosity towards the Ossetians and accused them of for “distortion of history ".
In general it is impossible to identify a single "image of Karachais which live in Kazakhstan, but the results of the survey revealed two features of this ethnic group: the first is their “non-contentious nature," and the second is commitment to interethnic interaction. 89.4% of respondents are neutral to intermarriage; however experience has proven that cross marriages are found only in 44.8% of cases.
The answers received during the survey make it possible to summarize that the Karachais still keep up traditions. They celebrate such traditional holidays as “besik toi”, “slan bi”, “ghollu”, “dubet”, “sandyrak”, “islammei”, “zhanguzga baru”, “tuztebseu”, “aslan bi”, “abzeh-bi”, they consume a lot of dairy products, bake flatbread called "khychin", make home-made sausages and meat rolls, and also drink tea with milk, butter, salt and pepper. At the same time, we can see the influence of the Kazakhs in the life of the Karachai people. Thus, 9 (18.3%) respondents said that they keep up Kazakh traditions. The Karachai diaspora is quite artistic, they sing songs to an accordion accompaniment, celebrate the holiday of "Nauryz", hold literary soiree of famous Karachai-Balkar poets, and appreciate national dances.
Generally the Karachais practice agriculture and cattle breeding, but there are those who work in other fields, for instance:
16 (34%) people are workmen;
5 (10,6%) people are unemployed;
4 (8,5) people work in service sector;
4 (8,5) people are security guards;
3 (6,4) people are students;
3 (6,4) people are self-employed entrepreneurs;
2 (4,3%) people work in other field;
2 (4,3%) people are government employees;
2 (4,3%) people are retirees;
1 (2,1%) people is a tax committee officer;
1 (2,1%) people is a shop assistant;
1 (2,1%) people is a housewife;
1 (2,1%) people is a cattle-farmer;
2 (2,1%) people – no information available;
The most part of respondents, 32 people (65,3%) declared no knowledge of the mother tongue and ignorance of oral folk literature. Among the elderly and middle-aged Karachais 2 (4,3%) read “Nasireddin Khozha adventures”, other 2 (4,3%) people read “Delightful stories of Potimat”, 1 person(2,1%) was familiar with Karakol legend and songs in Karachai language.
At the end of the survey the respondents were asked the question What else would you like to add? What is your suggestion or recommendation on the problem of education, schooling and other activities to be held in your mother tongue?
We got the following answers from 49 respondents:
- News papers and literature to be issued in mother tongue – 6 people (12,8%);
- The Karachai is the minority ethnos in Kazakhstan. To support and revive our culture Sunday schools or centers are really wanted–3 people (6,4);
- We have our own national band functioning in Astana since 2010 адам (8,5);
- Ethnic meetings to be organized and books or other literature in Karachai from homeland are needed to teach children and national schools are wanted – 1 адам (2,1%);
- Culture centers and Unions are needed - 3 адам (6,4);
38 respondents (77,5%) did not express their wishes or suggestions.
To sum up, the Karachai diaspora representatives’ rights are fairly preserved as other nations’ rights. The nation which was violently extracted from their homeland and deported to Kazakhstan had lost 10 thousand of its kindred. Thanks to the hospitality of the Kazakh nation , the Karachais who severely suffered from the cruel Soviet regime were able to survive and replenish in the places of their new settlement. Only in the 50ies they got the right to return back to their homeland and the population of Karachais, resided in Kazakhstan subsequently reduced. Nowadays about 1,000 representatives of Karachai peacefully exist along with other nationalities of Kazakhstan. The Constitution of Kazakhstan established the basis for sustainable development and prosperity of each nationality forming the whole country of Kazakhstan. All nations historically found and identified themselves as a part of one united country live on the mutual understanding and consensus. The international project revealed the social& linguistic conditions of the Karachai ethnos existence; their cultural developments based on the international and inter ethnic agreement.
The questionnaire for analysis of social linguistic situation of the Karachais was conducted by students and master students of Turkology department of the Eurasian National University named after L.N. Gumilev and Taraz State University named after M. Dulati. Kazakh and German scientists – participants to the international project “Interaction of language and culture of Turk people in post-soviet Kazakhstan” – launched expeditions to all regions of Kazakhstan from March 2014 till May 2016, students and master’s students of these educational institutions also had been involved there.
Field linguistic studies have made it possible to collect very rare linguistic materials on the Turkic languages of Kazakhstan. Audio and video materials were documented, and then separate transcription was made for each piece of oral speech. On completion of the interview, a questionnaire on metadata was filled. To date, 995 Karachais officially reside in Kazakhstan, 49 of them participated in the survey.
According to the survey conducted under the scope of the project, all Karachai families are aware of when and how their forefathers were resettled in Kazakh land, and can baсk it up with facts. On the question “When did you moved?” 13 (26%) of 49 Karachais answered “in 1943”, 4 (8,1%) Karachais answered “in 1943-44”, 5 (10,2%) Karachais answered “in 1944”, as for the reasons of migration 9 (18,3%) Karachais answered that they had been resettled because of “deportation”, 2 (4%) Karachais answered “mass migration”, 2 (4%) Karachais answered “father’s migration”, the answer of 10 (20,4%) Karachais was “repression”, 25 (51%) Karachais answered “military recovery”. When asked “Are you resettled/deported to Kazakhstan?” 20 people (42,6%) replied “yes”, 13 people (27,7%) replied “no” and 14 people (29,7%) were undecided. The questionnaire had the following question: “Why did your family move to Kazakhstan?”. 10 (20,4%) Karachais answered that it had been “deportation”, 5 (10,2%) Karachais said that they didn’t known and 34 (69,3%) respondents didn’t answer.
Nevertheless, as we have already mentioned, the reason for their mass resettlement to Kazakhstan lies in the accusation of the Karachais that they were in collusion with the Germans during the Second World War. Although the reason for their resettlement is known, all the Karachai people still dare not speak openly about this. The fear of deportation, which broke the fate of tens of thousands of Karachai families, has spread nationwide, and today negatively effects on the ethnic psychology of their descendants.
National identity (ID card): 47 (96.4%) out of 49 interviewed respondents are Karachais.
Ethnical self-identification: 27 (57.4%) respondents consider themselves as Karachais, 5 (10.6%) people as Kazakhs, and 15 (30.6%) people didn’t answer.
According to ID cards almost all representatives of the Karachai diaspora are Karachais, however it has been found that more than half of them consider themselves Karachais and more than 10 percent see themselves as Kazakhs.
Most of the Karachai people intermarry with representatives of their own and the Kazakh nation. The results of the survey can be presented in the following percentage:
Father’s ethnic origin: 45 (95,7%) people –Karachais; 1 (2,1%) people – Kirghiz; 1 (2,1%) – Azerbaijanian. The analysis shows predominance of the Karachai nation on father’s side and only two cases when the father is a Kirghiz and an Azerbaijani.
On mother’s side we found 5 ethnicities: 31 (66%) people – Karachais, 12 (25,5%) – Kazakhs; 2 (4,3%) – Balkars; 1 (2,1%) – Kirghiz; 1 (2,1%) – unknown.
Thus, the ethnic marker that identifies the ethnicity is the father's side (Karachai), that is, the ethnicity of the child is determined by the father's ethnicity. This is due to the overwhelming authority of the father in the Karachai families and the fact that the families are dominated by the Islamic mentality.
In the Karachai families that live in Kazakhstan there are cross marriages and there are no restrictions on them, only in some families (10.6%) marriages with the Slavs, in particular with the Russians, are frowned upon. Nevertheless, in order to preserve national values and their native language within the family, they try to marry their sons and daughters to Karachais.
The national ratio in the cross marriages of the Karachais is as follows:
18 (38,3%) people married Kazakhs;
17 (36,2%) people married Karachais,
2 (4,3%) people married Russians,
2 (4,3%) people married other ethnicities,
8 respondents – no information available.
Ethnicity of a child in cross marriages:
26 (55,3%) people determined their children as Karachais,
11 (23,4%) people determined their children as Kazakhs,
1 (1,8%) person indicated another ethnicity,
9 (19,1%) people didn’t mentioned the ethnicity of a child,
1 person Tatarian and 1 person Uighur (0,6%).
All survey participants note the importance of getting education in their native language, but they veraciously admit that due to the rundown of elders, the number of representatives of the Diaspora speaking the Karachai language decreases, which means that the functional area of the native language is reduced. Elderly Karachai people are fluent in their native language, the middle generation understands their language, but young people do not speak Karachai at all. Young Karachai people are characterized by Russian-Kazakh bilingualism.
The data obtained by the analysis of the attitude of the Karachai people to their native language look as follows:
The answers given to the question “Which language do you speak with preschool children in family?”:
18 (38,3%) – only in Karachai language;
16 (34%) – only in Kazakh language;
5 (10,6) – only in Russian language;
1 (2,1%) – in Kazakh and Russian languages;
7 (14,9%) – no information available.
The answers given to the question “Which language do you speak with school-aged children in family?”:
17 (36,2%) – only in Kazakh language;
13 (27,7%) – in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
7 (14,9) – in Kazakh and Russian languages;
1 (2,1%) – in Kazakh and Russian languages;
5 (10,6) – only in KARACHAI language;
4 (8,5) – only in Russian language;
1 (2,1%) – no information available.
The communication language of the adult members of family:
18 (38,3%) – only Karachai language;
17 (36,2%) – only Kazakh language;
6 (12,8%) – Kazakh and Russian languages;
3 (6,4) – only Russian language;
2 (4,3%) – Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
1 (2,1%) – no information available.
The answers given to the question “What language do you speak with other ethnics?”:
25 (53,2) – Kazakh and Russian languages;;
18 (38,3%) – only Kazakh language;
3 (6,4) – only Russian language;
1 (2,1%) – no information available.
The analysis of linguistic situation shows that the Karachais in Kazakhstan do not have any problems on language issues. The majority of Karachais (36,2%) are fluent in Kazakh, and most of them (50%) can communicate in Kazakh. The majority of respondents said they had not faced violations of their rights on language issues. With subsequent improvement of the language situation in the country, the majority of the Karachai ethnic group note an increase in command of Kazakh language in conjunction with Russian language. The bilingualism of Karachais in Kazakhstan can be considered as successful model of language policy who speak the state Kazakh language and the official Russian language (91.5%), and their ambitions for trilingualism (4.3%) are meant to be contribution to the country's strategic development. At the same time the young generation expresses concern about the functional use of Karachai language which is getting less.
Well, according to the survey findings:
27 (57,4%) people – fluent in Azerbaijanian, Balkar, Kazakh and Karachai languages;
25 (53,2%) people – read fluently in Balkar, Kazakh and Russian languages;
20 (42,6%) people –easily write in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
24 (51,1%) people – speak Azerbaijanian, Balkar, Kazakh and Karachai languages;
36 (76,5%) people – read fluently books, newspapers, magazines and TV and radio shows in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
42 (89,4%) people – listen and understand lectures, interviews, reports, TV and radio shows in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
42 (89,4%) people – listen and understand concerts and stage plays in Kazakh, Karachai and Russian languages;
36 (76,6%) people – replied that they watch movies in Kazakh and Russian languages without translation into mother tongue.
All respondents specify themselves as full-fledged members of their ethnic group. Determining their personality, Karachais, first of all, consider themselves as part of ethnic values system (among 47 respondents 44 (97%) people preach Islam), and only then identify themselves as Kazakh people (96.4%).
Representatives of the Karachai diaspora in Kazakhstan note that there are no disagreements and conflicts among the Kazakhs and other ethnic groups living in the country. Answering this question, 25 (51%) respondents indicated the absence of conflicts, 23 (46.9%) of the polled Karachai people did not give an answer, and only one person (2%) expressed animosity towards the Ossetians and accused them of for “distortion of history ".
In general it is impossible to identify a single "image of Karachais which live in Kazakhstan, but the results of the survey revealed two features of this ethnic group: the first is their “non-contentious nature," and the second is commitment to interethnic interaction. 89.4% of respondents are neutral to intermarriage; however experience has proven that cross marriages are found only in 44.8% of cases.
The answers received during the survey make it possible to summarize that the Karachais still keep up traditions. They celebrate such traditional holidays as “besik toi”, “slan bi”, “ghollu”, “dubet”, “sandyrak”, “islammei”, “zhanguzga baru”, “tuztebseu”, “aslan bi”, “abzeh-bi”, they consume a lot of dairy products, bake flatbread called "khychin", make home-made sausages and meat rolls, and also drink tea with milk, butter, salt and pepper. At the same time, we can see the influence of the Kazakhs in the life of the Karachai people. Thus, 9 (18.3%) respondents said that they keep up Kazakh traditions. The Karachai diaspora is quite artistic, they sing songs to an accordion accompaniment, celebrate the holiday of "Nauryz", hold literary soiree of famous Karachai-Balkar poets, and appreciate national dances.
Generally the Karachais practice agriculture and cattle breeding, but there are those who work in other fields, for instance:
16 (34%) people are workmen;
5 (10,6%) people are unemployed;
4 (8,5) people work in service sector;
4 (8,5) people are security guards;
3 (6,4) people are students;
3 (6,4) people are self-employed entrepreneurs;
2 (4,3%) people work in other field;
2 (4,3%) people are government employees;
2 (4,3%) people are retirees;
1 (2,1%) people is a tax committee officer;
1 (2,1%) people is a shop assistant;
1 (2,1%) people is a housewife;
1 (2,1%) people is a cattle-farmer;
2 (2,1%) people – no information available;
The most part of respondents, 32 people (65,3%) declared no knowledge of the mother tongue and ignorance of oral folk literature. Among the elderly and middle-aged Karachais 2 (4,3%) read “Nasireddin Khozha adventures”, other 2 (4,3%) people read “Delightful stories of Potimat”, 1 person(2,1%) was familiar with Karakol legend and songs in Karachai language.
At the end of the survey the respondents were asked the question What else would you like to add? What is your suggestion or recommendation on the problem of education, schooling and other activities to be held in your mother tongue?
We got the following answers from 49 respondents:
- News papers and literature to be issued in mother tongue – 6 people (12,8%);
- The Karachai is the minority ethnos in Kazakhstan. To support and revive our culture Sunday schools or centers are really wanted–3 people (6,4);
- We have our own national band functioning in Astana since 2010 адам (8,5);
- Ethnic meetings to be organized and books or other literature in Karachai from homeland are needed to teach children and national schools are wanted – 1 адам (2,1%);
- Culture centers and Unions are needed - 3 адам (6,4);
38 respondents (77,5%) did not express their wishes or suggestions.
To sum up, the Karachai diaspora representatives’ rights are fairly preserved as other nations’ rights. The nation which was violently extracted from their homeland and deported to Kazakhstan had lost 10 thousand of its kindred. Thanks to the hospitality of the Kazakh nation , the Karachais who severely suffered from the cruel Soviet regime were able to survive and replenish in the places of their new settlement. Only in the 50ies they got the right to return back to their homeland and the population of Karachais, resided in Kazakhstan subsequently reduced. Nowadays about 1,000 representatives of Karachai peacefully exist along with other nationalities of Kazakhstan. The Constitution of Kazakhstan established the basis for sustainable development and prosperity of each nationality forming the whole country of Kazakhstan. All nations historically found and identified themselves as a part of one united country live on the mutual understanding and consensus. The international project revealed the social& linguistic conditions of the Karachai ethnos existence; their cultural developments based on the international and inter ethnic agreement.
A.A. Zhalmyrza
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