KUMYK
(Own name: Kumuk)
A
Caucasian people of the west-Turkic (Kipchak) language group,
almost all of whom live in the lowlands of North Eastern Dagestan.
Kumyks see themselves as indigenous descendants of the Kipchak
and Khazar Tribal Federation who once dominated the North East
of the region. Kumyk became Muslim in the eleventh centruy. In
the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries the realm of the Kumyk Prince,
the Shamkhal, head of a rigid feudal pyramid was a dominating
power in the eastern part of the North Caucasus. Kumyk used to
be a second language and common means of communication for many
of the peoples in the region. It is now Russian. Kumykia came
under Russian influence in the beginning of the nineteenth century,
their Khanate was finally abolished in 1847. In the beginning
of the twentieth century Kumyk started to develop a trading middle
class and intellectuals. Both were destroyed after the Russian
revolution. A special complaint of the Kumyk is the destruction
of agriculture through collectivization and of their entire settlement
pattern through the forced resettlement of Mountain Peoples to
Kumyk territory in the lowlands. They claim to have been deprived
of half of their arable land and to have been transformed into
a minority within their traditional habitat. Compared to other
peoples of Dagestan, Kumyk have retained their traditional pastoral
societal structures to a lesser degree. They constitute a relatively
large proportion of the industrial workers, especially in the
ports of Dagestan. In 1989 Kumyk formed a Popular Movement, which
opted for a democratic Autonomous Kumyk Republic the following
year, based on self determination in the region where they constituted
the majority in 1921. They are active members of the Assembly
of Turkic-Speaking Peoples and have discussed models of cooperation
with the Balkar and the Karachai.
Note:
This information is taken from "The North Caucasus: Minorities
at a Crossroads" written by Helen Krag and Larsh Funch.
