Dzheyrahovtsy – issues of origin and migration

Albogachiev Magomed Mikhailovich ORCID: 0009-0006-3925-1554 Student; Department of History; Ingush State University 386001, Russia, Republic of Ingushetia, Magas, Zyazikova ave., 7, room 302 magomed_albogachiyev77@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The Dzheyrakhovites (ing. Zhayrakhoi) are an Ingush ethnoterritorial society localized in the sources of the XVI–XVIII centuries on the territory of the Dzheyrakh gorge, in the lower reaches of the Armkhi River, as well as in the gorge of the Terek River to the village of Lars.. The first mentions are found in Russian article lists of the XVI-XVII centuries, under the name "Yerokhon people" ^{[1, pp. 62, 64.]}.

According to the basic information about the origin, the Dzheyrakhov families are from Ossetia. The historian-kavkazologist N. G. Volkova notes that in the legends of the Ingush of the Jerakh gorge, the idea of the origin of the Ingush surnames – the Tsurovs and Hamatkhanovs from Ossetia has still been preserved ^{[2, p. 130]}. Perhaps the Khamatkhanovs, before their relocation to the Dzheyrakh gorge, lived in the village of Dzivgis in the Kuratinsky gorge, where their religious buildings were located. For example, N. G. Volkova, based on field materials, writes: "The surname of the Khamatkhanovs is known in Ossetia. In the Kurtatinsky gorge in the villages. Dzivgis, one of the Hamatkhanovs, took part in the repair of the 12th-century Alan temple in 1902, as evidenced by the inscription on the wall of this temple" ^{[2, p. 130]}. This is also reported by L. P. Semenov ^{[3, p. 22]}.

There are many historical sources that testify to the residence of the Vainakh tribes to the west of the river. Terek. For example, according to ethnographic materials, the Ossetian population in Tagauria migrated from the western regions of Ossetia. According to local residents, G. Khatisyan reports that Tagauria was part of the possessions of the Ingush Kists ^{[4, l.18ob]}.

Researcher of the medieval culture of Ossetians, archaeologist V. H. Tmenov, referring to the historian-kavkazologist G. A. Kokiev, writes: "(...)The legends about the Ingush staying in Tagauria and their subsequent displacement from here were witnessed in 1926 by G.A. Kokiev, to whom local residents even showed a number of tower-type crypts located on the left side of the road between Upper and Lower Sanib and called by them "Ingush" ^{[5, p. 124]}.

However, Professor G. A. Kokiev suggests that the Ingush crypts are younger than Ossetian ones and believes that they were built by Ingush craftsmen commissioned by Ossetians. In our opinion, this is a common attempt to present an existing fact in the light the author needs. Moreover, other sources confirm the residence of Ingush in this area and their subsequent displacement by newcomers Ossetians. But for us, the fact itself is important, indicating traces of Ingush presence in this area.

V. B. Pfaff, in his work "Materials for the ancient history of Ossetians", writes that the societies of Tagaurians and Kurtatians were formed mostly from fugitive Valazhirians, as well as from natives of the Nara, Zakinsky and Java gorges. At the same time, the author notes that these Ossetians do not have stories about the "feudal age" of their country, and that according to their stories, the Burdura people lived here before them (oset. burdurtae). The latter moved beyond Kazbek, to the Trussov gorge. Based on these and some other data, V. B. Pfaff concludes that the current inhabitants moved to these places no earlier than the XV-XVI centuries ^{[6, p.126]}. "But," writes V. B. Pfaff, "the inhabitants of the Kurtatinsky and Tagaursky gorges remember the history of their own society quite well" ^{[6, p. 127]}.

It should be noted that the Burdurov, as V. B. Pfaff writes, are called by local residents "the Ossetian tribe" ^{[6, p. 127]}. However, the information given by the author further casts doubt on such identification of this tribe. V. B. Pfaff notes that he does not have information about the Ossetian tribe with this name and that in this area "an unusually large number of buildings and churches with Georgian inscriptions and rich cemeteries, obviously belonging to the feudal period. Also, V. B. Pfaff reports that "among the current inhabitants, memories of the feudal age merge into one with the most ancient Nart legends, and the Georgian feudal lords themselves, who, judging by the large number of Georgian churches, lived in this place, are also called nart. They also show ruins of fortresses and castles of feudal lords here and there, but they say no differently: sleds lived here, there are their tombs, in which sometimes silver and golden things with Georgian letters are found." Therefore, V. B. Pfaff concludes that the Burdur or pre-Iranian population of these places was Georgian ^{[6, p.126]}. In other words, the author believes that the Burdurs were Georgian-speaking sleds. However, we associate them with the dzurdzukas, which are found in Ossetian legends under the name tsarziata. Having studied Ossetian legends about the pre-Iranian population of their country, G.F. Chursin comes to the conclusion that the Tsartsiats and the Narts may have been, if not the same people, then two peoples who lived simultaneously on the territory of present-day Ossetia ^{[7, p. 75]}. It is noteworthy that the Sanibansk gorge, according to Ingush legends, is considered the birthplace of the Ingush sleds and the Ingush themselves. ^{[8, pp. 22-27]}.

In our opinion, tsartsiata are Dzurdzuki (i.e. Tsov and ortskhoevtsy). And the Georgian inscriptions on their structures are explained by the fact that Christianity came to the latter, like to all the Nahoyazyn tribes, from Georgia. Moreover, the Dzurdzuki have been under the strong cultural and linguistic influence of Georgia since ancient times. Perhaps V. B. Pfaff would have given the same description in the Assinovsky Gorge if these places had been occupied by Ossetians in his time, and the researcher would have visited them. After all, churches and other structures here also have Georgian inscriptions.

F. I. Gorepekin writes that "many topographical names, cults and religious beliefs, names and many others on the Ossetian territory are inexplicable among Ossetians or are explained by a distorted concept, explained in the Ingush language" ^{[9, l. 33]}.

In the first half of the XVIII century, the Vainakh tribes apparently still lived in the gorge of the Terek River up to the borders with Georgia. For example, the village of Nizhny Chim (Chmi, Dallagkau) was founded in the middle of the XVIII century by Bagir Slonate, the son of Ilald Slonate, who fled from the Alagir village of Bad in about 1730 and laid the village of Verkhny Chmi on the Terek on the land of the Ingush" ^{[10, p. 388, note 17]}.

N. G. Volkova, who carefully studied the problem of migration processes among Ossetians, comes to the conclusion that by the beginning of the XVIII century. the eastern ethnic border of the Ossetians had changed significantly and already in the 1770s. the easternmost Ossetian settlements were settlements in the Daryal gorge (previously inhabited by Vainakhs), on the left bank of the Terek Lars River, Chmi, Balta ^{[2, p. 126]}. Ossetians did not consider the Daryal Gorge to be the place of their ancient habitation and settled here, on land considered Ingush, in the 1720s ^{[2, pp. 127, 128]}.

Yu. Klaproth reports that Ossetians, Elephants, paid taxes to the Ingush for the use of the land on which the villages of Lars, Chmi, and Baltash were located ^{[11, p. 286; 2, p. 128]}.

Architectural monuments also testify to the resettlement of the Vainakhs from the territory of the left bank of the Terek to the Dzheyrakh gorge. L. P. Semenov writes that "human handprints on the walls (in Ingushetia – on the crypts in the villages of Khamkhi, Pui, Erzi; in Ossetia – in the villages of Dargavs, Koban), deep niches in semi-underground crypts (in Ingushetia – in the village of Salgi, in Ossetia – in the villages of Dargavs, Koban)... The Mamsurov tower in the Ossetian village of Dargavs, which has a parapet with four pointed teeth on the roof, and hinged loopholes (mashikuli) below the upper windows, resembles the towers of the Ingush village of Tsori" ^{[8, pp. 22-27]}.

A. Skachkov quotes the words of a 110-year-old resident of Dagom village, Dziu Tsabiev, that the Ironians did not know how to build towers, but the Kabardians did, because they had more time and lived richer ^{[12, p.3]}. And from whom could the newcomers of Kabardia learn to build towers if not from the Vainakhs who lived before them in the foothills of the Central Caucasus? Perhaps the Kabardins began to build towers when they took possession of the Daryal, Jeyrakh and other gorges, adopting the construction skills of the local Vainakh tribes.

The Ossetian scholar Prof. B. A. Alborov writes regarding the original inhabitants of the Lamardon settlement that "they called themselves Lamar, lamoir or lamur, which means "highlanders" in Ingush. The area inhabited by them is nicknamed Lamardon by the surrounding Ossetians, which means "Lamar habitat" or "Lamar receptacle", since the word don in Ossetian means not only "water", but also "receptacle" ^{[13, p. 125]}. It should be noted here that loamara, along with g I alg I ai, was the self-designation of Ingush societies until the beginning of the XX century.

B. A. Alborov believes that Lamardon means "lamar habitat". We explain this by the fact that the Ossetians, before their migration to these places, called the river where the Ingush Lomaroi lived Lamardon - "Lamarov river". Similarly, as they called the Armkhi river, where the Ingush Kists lived (oset. maehael), Macaldon – "the makalov river". And already the name of this river has been transferred to the settlement founded here.

Apparently, there were several waves of migration of Iranian-speaking tribes to the mountains of the Central Caucasus. Linguistic similarities in the Digor dialect of the Ossetian language and the Vainakh languages, identified by Prof. V. I. Abaev, indicate that Nakhon-speaking tribes lived in the Alagir gorge bordering Digoria in the west in the past. Moreover, the researcher notes that the linguistic similarities are more similar to the Chechen language, rather than Ingush. In our opinion, this is not surprising, because our version is confirmed that west of the Terek River there lived tribes who spoke two main dialects of the Galgai language: Kistin and Dzurdzuk. In our opinion, the modern Chechen literary language was formed on the basis of the Kist dialect, and Ingush – on the basis of Dzurdzuk. Apparently, the ancestors of the Digor people had more contact with the Kist tribes. V. I. Abaev writes: "The Western dialect of the Ossetian language is Digor, has a number of similarities with Chechen, bypassing Ironic, over the head, so to speak, Ironic" ^{[14, p.114]}. The author explains this by the fact that the Iranian immigration to the Central Caucasus, which marked the beginning of the formation of the Ossetian tribe, went, perhaps, in two successive waves; the first – "Digor" and the second – "Iron. The latter were wedged between the Vainakhs and the Digor people ^{[14, p.115]}. The author considers these linguistic parallels "as belonging to the local linguistic substrate on the basis of which both the Chechen-Ingush language and Ossetian were formed" ^{[14, p. 112]}.

The Ironians, wedged between the Digor and Vainakhs, judging by information from folk legends, came in the post-Mongol period, during the Kabardian expansion into the Central Caucasus of the XIV-XVI centuries. Then they move eastward. L. P. Semenov recorded an Ossetian legend, according to which Ingush people once lived in the Tagaur and Kurtatinsky gorges. Under the onslaught of Kabardians and Ossetians, who fought under the leadership of Tag and Kurt, the Ingush retreated to the east – first to the Sanibansk gorge, and then through the Chmi to the right bank of the Terek ^{[3, pp. 22-23; 8, p. 27]}.

The Russian historian V. P. Kobychev notes: "The time of completion of the screening of the gorges of the eastern part of North Ossetia is determined by the mention in the legend of Tag and Kurt of the Kabardins who acted with them against the Ingush." But this could have taken place no earlier than the XIV century (the time of Kabardian development of the foothill plain) and no later than the beginning of the XVIII century, when the Ingush ... still continued to hold the lands of the Daryal gorge in their hands" ^{[15, pp. 165-184; 5, p.125]}. Agreeing with this conclusion of the scientist, prof. V. H. Tmenov writes: "For centuries, the Ingush and Ossetians have been fighting with varying success for the possession of one or another piece of miserly land for the benefit of the mountain land and, most importantly, for the right to possess the strategically important Daryal passage" ^{[5, p. 125]}.

Thus, the Ossetian tribes moved from the northwest to the southeast, replacing the Vainakh population. According to B. A. Kaloev, the last wave of Ossetian migration from the foothill plain of the North Caucasus, dating back to the XV-XVI centuries, was caused by Kabardian expansion into the Central Caucasus ^{[16, p. 50]}. At the same time, the first wave is probably connected with the Tatar-Mongol invasion. "One can say," writes G. J. Gumba, "that the Ossetian legends reflect the real events of the era of the Mongol invasion, when, under the onslaught of the conquerors, the Iranian–speaking tribes were forced to leave the steppes and move to mountainous areas, where they settled, mixing with the indigenous population" ^{[17, p. 119]}. As part of the first wave of migration, according to V. I. Abaev (see above), Digor residents are resettling. The latter, apparently, occupied the lands to the west of the Ardon River. Next, the Iron tribes migrate and colonize the Alagir gorge and then the gorge of the Bolshoy Liakhvi River in Transcaucasia. In the XV-XVII centuries in the North Caucasus, the Iron People inhabited the Kurtatinsky, Koban, Sanibansky gorges and the Dargavs valley. And during the XVIII century they occupied the gorge of the Terek River. The Vainakhs represent those most mysterious aborigines of these gorges, who were forced to migrate to the right bank of the Terek River, and the remaining ones were "absorbed" by the Iranian-speaking ancestors of modern Ossetians who conquered these gorges in alliance with Kabardians. V. B. Pfaff writes that the societies of Tagaurians and Kurtatians were formed mostly from fugitive Valazhirians, as well as from natives of Narsky, Zakinsky and Java gorges. ^{[6, p.126]}.According to N. G. Volkova, the population of the Kurtatian society was replenished by immigrants from various places in Ossetia^{[2, p. 130]}. B. A. Kaloev writes about the resettlement of some families from the Alagir gorge to Tagauri ^{[16, pp. 49-50]}. N. G. Volkova notes the fact of the resettlement of Alagir Ossetians to the Kurtatinsky gorges of the villages of Tsimiti, Kharischin, Kadat ^{[2, p. 130]}.Next, the author writes: "The Kaloevs, who came from the neighboring Zakinsky Gorge, founded a village. Kalotykau in the upper part of the Kurtatinsky gorge (B. A. Kaloev, without arguing, refers the foundation of this village to the XVI century. The formation of a village located here. Andiatikau is associated by folk tradition with the Ingush surname of the Yandievs [The Evloevs lived in the same village (cf. the Ingush surname of the Evloevs)]" ^{[2, p. 130]}. Apparently, among the Ossetians who migrated from the Alagir Gorge to the east, there were representatives of the aboriginal population of this area who were squeezed by them – Yandievs, Kaloevs, Evloevs, etc. (it is possible that the Assinovsky Evloevs and Koloevs are immigrants from the western regions of the Caucasus). It follows from this that part of the Vainakh population remained among the alien Ossetian tribes. As a result, their partial or complete assimilation seems to be taking place. As a result, some of them move to the Dzheyrakh gorge.

About the time of the resettlement of the Dzheyrakh surnames, N. G. Volkova writes that it is quite difficult to determine the time of their appearance in the Dzheyrakh gorge: "However, already in the documents of the 70s of the XVIII century, the senior surname of the Durovs is mentioned, by this time living in the village of Zharbshimibi (Jerakh)" ^{[2, p. 130]}. In this regard, attention is drawn to information from the legends about the destruction of the mountain settlement of Obanne by the Kabardins ^{[18, p. 26]}. It follows from this that the Obankhoi migrated to the Dzheyrakhov gorge before its capture by the Kabardins (no later than the second half of the XVI century). It is interesting to note that above the Trusovskaya Kassara and the village of Ketrisi there is the village of Abano, and on one of the slopes of Kazbek there is a glacier of the same name ^{[19, p. 13]}. The village of Nar consists of several villages, including Abana. ^{[19, p. 24]}.

In the legend of the Dzheyrakhov surnames, recorded by N. G. Volkova from the words of an 80-year-old resident of the village. Dzheyrakhjebraila Durov, it is reported that Tsur and Hamatkhan moved from Ossetia to the Dzheyrakh gorge when the lower part of this gorge was in the possession of the Kabardins. Therefore, they settled there with the permission of the latter ^{[2, p. 130]}. This is confirmed by information from another legend, which says that by the arrival of the Tsurovs and their founding of Dzheyrakh, there was a settlement of Aban-Kisten (Oban Kistinsky) not far from this place ^{[18, pp. 30-31]}.

"Later, the Lyanovs, Borovs, and Akhrievs came to the same places. As the Jerakh people tell us, the Tsurovs used to live in the villages of Jerakh, Phamat (Nizhny Jerakh) and Ozmi" ^{[2, p. 130]}. At the same time, L. P. Semenov notes that the Lyanovs, Borovs and Akhrievs were the first to arrive in Furtog ^{[3, p. 28]}. Consequently, the Tsurovs and Khamatkhanov, as well as other Dzheyrakh surnames, moved to the Dzheyrakh gorge after the conquest of its lower part (which they occupied) by the Kabardins. This conclusion is also confirmed by the fact that the Tsurov battle tower in Dzheyrakh, according to the results of new radiocarbon dating carried out at the University of Georgia (USA), was built around 1641-1668 ^[20]. Apparently, in this period of time they migrated to the Dzheyrakh gorge.

It is quite possible that the locals perceived the Dzheyrakhs as enemies, since they occupied the lands conquered from them by the Kabardins. Thus, the Vainakh population migrated from the territory of modern Ossetia to the right bank of the Terek River in several waves.

It should be noted that some researchers have expressed an opinion about the Ossetian origin of the Dzheyrakh people. For example, N. G. Volkova, based on some archival data and field materials, comes to this conclusion. In particular, referring to Yu. Klaprota, the author writes: "Klaprota tells that two Ossetian surnames live in villages opposite Ulagtsmikau on the Makaldon River (Armkhi). Shirahekau (Jerakh), consisting of two villages: Tsurate and Lenate, above which the Ingush live, bordering the Gudamakars and the Pshavs. It is not difficult to find out in these surnames the famous Ingush surnames of Durov and Lyanov, later residents of the villages of Jerakh, Ozmi and Furtoug" ^{[2, p. 130]}. The author also notes that K. Koch names six villages in the lower reaches of the Armkhi River: Kalmykau, Nizhny and Upper Vosbi (compare with watsbi // batsbi – "batsbians") Bagir, Pemat and Dollaukau, formed by the Chimitans, who pushed back the Ingush who lived in these places. "These same villages," writes N. G. Volkova, "are listed in the documentary materials of that time. The name of one of the Jerakh villages mentioned by Koch indicates the name of the third son of Ilald – Bagir, who probably lived in the same years as the second son Ahmed, a foreman known in documents of the 70s of the XVIII century" ^{[2, pp. 129-130]}.

In our opinion, these surnames (and their settlements) were called "Ossetian" (including by guides of Ossetian nationality) due to the fact that they were immigrants from the territory of modern Ossetia. And the Feppins and Metskhalians who lived here were pushed back by them.

L. P. Semenov writes that in the villages of Tsimiti and Dalakau (North Ossetia) there are monuments resembling Ingush pillar-shaped sanctuaries and the similarity of Ingush aboveground crypts Furtoug, Jerakh, Erzi with Ossetian ones in Kobani. And according to Ossetian legend, the tower in Dargavs was built by an Ingush master. In Sanib, residents call some aboveground crypts "Ingush"^{[8, pp. 22-27]}. Therefore, it is not necessary to say that these structures were built by Ossetians. They show the way of the ancestors of the Dzheyrakh people from the Kurtati gorge to the Dzheyrakh gorge, through the Koban and Daryal gorges.

The attribution of the Dzheyrakh people to the Ossetians is also inconsistent with the fact that they lived in the Dzheyrakh gorge at least since the XVI century. ^{[1, pp. 66-67]}, when the latter were not here yet. It should also be noted that in the work of Vakhushti Bagrationi, the Jeyrakh gorge is attributed not to Ossetia, but to Kisto-Dzurdzuketi, "where both rivers merge," i.e. Terek and Aramkhi. At the same time, the eastern border of Ossetia is indicated by the Daryal Gorge ^{[21, pp. 138, 150-151]}.

Moreover, the Dzhayrakh people, as DNA studies show, are representatives of the "Big Vainakh" subgroup of haplogroup J2 ^[22]. That is, genetically they do not differ from the rest of about 85% of Ingush. In 1859, the heads of the Tsurov and Lyanov families submitted ancestral data on their surnames to the committee for the analysis of the land rights of the highlanders of the Vladikavkaz district. According to them, their pedigrees numbered from seven to eleven or more generations who considered themselves Ingush ^{[23, l. 50]}.

We explain this contradiction by the fact that the Jeyrakh surnames, as already mentioned above, are part of the Vainakh tribes that lived in mountainous and foothill areas west of the river. Terek. They were largely assimilated by Ossetians, but still remembered their Vainakh origin. "The influence of Ossetians on the Ingush-Dzheyrakh people," writes V. H. Tmenov, "was so all–encompassing that written sources of the first half of the XIX century sometimes directly attributed the latter to the "Ossetian tribe"" ^{[5, p. 125]}.

K. G. Koch, referring to Yu. Klaprota reports that the entire valley from Lars to Vladikavkaz was inhabited earlier by Ingush. At the same time, the Alagir Ossetians, who appeared here "as a result of various troubles," initially paid the Ingush to file for the use of this land. Over time, with the support of the Russians, they took over the valley of the Mcaldon River (Armhi River). The entire narrow strip from Balta to Lars with the villages of Balta, Shim (Tsmikau), Lars and Ulag (Dallagkau) became known as Shimit, and the inhabitants – Shimites, after the name of the main settlement. Later, the Shimites gave the whole territory to the Russians, leaving the valley of the Armkhi river behind them. In it they built their villages again and became even stronger under Russian rule than before.The Ingush, pushed back to the mountainous areas in the east, were at enmity with the Shimites ^{[24, pp. 224-225]}. In other words, K. Koch reports that the Ossetians, or rather the Ossetian Aldars (the Ossetians themselves were oppressed by their feudal lords) took over part of the Dzheyrakh gorge with the support of the Russian administration. But why did they give up all their lands in the Daryal gorge, but not the lands in the Dzheyrakh gorge? In our opinion, this is due to the fact that the Shimites simply could not dispose of the lands that were in the possession of the Dzheyrakhs (recorded as "Ossetians"). In other words, they gave the Russians the lands they owned.

Moreover, we believe that the Shimites originally represented a mixed Ossetian-Ingush population. The idea of synthesizing alien Iranian tribes with local autochthons is contained in the genealogy of all the feudal lords of Ossetia ^{[25, pp. 24-25]}.

F. I. Gorepekin wrote about the joint residence of Ossetians and Ingush on the left bank of the Terek River:"If the Ingush language in some minor cases, actually in lexical terms, is similar to Tagaur-Ossetian or Volajir (Alagir), then it can be assumed because some part of the Ingush used to live together, because the Ossetians also have a reflection of the Ingush language, because the Ossetians occupied the former Ingush territory." ^{[9, L.33]}.

According to G. J. Gumb, two ethnically different groups of the population – aborigines and immigrants (Iranian-speaking tribes), lived together for quite a long time, and this time became a period of bilingualism, during which the aborigines gradually lost their language ^{[17, p. 119]}.

This conclusion is further confirmed by the fact that the Dzheyrakhov people spoke the Ossetian language. For example, in 1756, in the Report of Archimandrite Arseny on the kishts, it says: "In 1756, on the 15th of June, the people of Kishta were called, and Kabardians call them Makals in their language, in their assembly there was in the middle of the boundary, which they had between the Ossetians, along the banks of the Terek River... Hieromonk Gregory... was approaching the place where they were gathered, and he saw them and... began in Ossetian to talk to them" ^{[26, l. 858-860]}. Along the Terek River, it was the Dzheyrakhov people who bordered the Ossetians.

B. A. Alborov writes: "Both the old Tsurovs and the Khamatkhanovs, Kozyrevs and others spoke Ossetian well relatively recently" ^{[27, p. 14]}. The same situation was with the Vainakh population of Eastern Georgia, where one part was completely assimilated, and the other part, known as the Batsbians, underwent partial assimilation and moved to the Dzheyrakh gorge (although later the Batsbians returned back to Georgia). Due to being under the influence of Georgian culture and language for a long time, the Batsbians spoke (and still speak) Georgian and Nakh languages.

The Shimites who lived in Lars, Chmi and Balta, having increased due to new aliens and fugitives, stopped paying Ingush and began to classify themselves as Tagaur Ossetians. ^{[2, p. 128]}. Apparently, with the increase in the Ossetian part of the population, the Shimites began to consider themselves Tagaurians. At the same time, the Dzheyrakhovs did not break ties with the Ossetian aristocratic families and borrowed a lot from them in tradition and culture ^{[27, p. 13]}. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the view of the local Feppian kists, the Dzheyrakhovs were part of the Tagaurians. For this reason, conflict situations arose, leading to confrontation between the two Ingush ethnic groups. At the same time, the Dzheyrakhov residents apparently received support from the Shimites.

As the candidate of Historical Sciences I. T. Marzoev writes: "Representatives of the Jerakhov nobility called themselves aldars, by analogy with the feudal lords of the Tagaur society of Ossetia, adding this title after the name. For example, Misost Aldar, Elzharuko Aldar" ^{[27, p. 13]}. We fully assume that this term (aldar) came to the Ossetian language from the pre-Iranian population of Tagauria and, therefore, was not an Ossetian loan in the language of the Dzheyrakhovs. Perhaps due to the lack of full-fledged feudal relations in the Dzheyrakh society, their aldars had to bring kusags and farsaglags from their relatives of Tagaur owners. The tsarist administration, seeing the close connection of the Dzheyrakhovites with the Tagaur aristocracy, simply ranked their territory among the possessions of the latter. All this explains why, unlike the Feppin Kists, the Jeyrakh surnames at that time were not in hostile relations with the Tagaurians.

Perhaps, like the Tagaurians, the Jeyrakh people, by their arrival in the Jeyrakh gorge in the XVI century, professed the Muslim religion, unlike the local Feppins. This is also confirmed by the fact that the Larsa owner Sultan-Murza swore on the Koran and called Shikh-Murza Okkotsky his brother (apparently, including his brother in faith) ^{[28, p. 155]}. In this case, the conflict between the Dzheyrakhs and the locals also had a religious connotation.

Thus, the small Vainakh enclaves on the territory of modern Ossetia have long been significantly influenced by the language and culture of Ossetians as a result of living together. Subsequently, some of them moved to the right bank of the Terek River. For this reason, some border Ingush villages were called "Ossetian". For example, K. G. Koch in the 1830s called the villages of Nizhny and Upper Vosbi Ossetian Dzheyrakhov (eng. Uozmi // Iezmi), Pemat (ing. Phyamat), etc. Moreover, K. G. Koch calls the Ingush village in the Daryal gorge of Gwileti Ossetian ^{[24, p. 226]}.

L. L. Shteder also unreasonably designates the Ingush farm of the Saurovs as "the first Ossetian place ^{[29, p. 221]}. The author reports that Ingush and Ossetians lived in Zaurov, but there were more of the latter ^{[30, p. 695 (note 1)]}. At the same time, Y. G. Kalprot, who visited Zaurov in 1808, clarifies that these "Ossetians" were refugees ^{[11, p. 307]}.

D. V. Rakovich, a military historian and ethnographer of the Caucasus, notes: "Some printed sources say that the Vladikavkaz fortress was built on the site of the Ossetian village of Kap-Koi. That's not so. The right bank of the Terek belonged, as we have seen, to the Ingush and Kists; Ossetians could not have their own village in a foreign land of hostile tribes" ^{[31, p. 5]}. If the relations of the Ingush with the Ossetians were hostile, then it is even more unclear how the Ingush allowed Ossetian refugees exceeding their own number into their farm. Apparently, these were not Ossetians, but Vainakh refugees from the territory occupied by Ossetians. It is noteworthy that D. V. Rakovich divides Ingush into kists and Ingush proper (i.e. Ingush residents of villages of Large and Small Ingush).

Based on the analysis of maps of the XIX century, N. G. Volkova comes to the conclusion that the farm was founded in the period 1730-1760s ^{[2, p. 161]}. According to the author's research, during this period, the Ingush population of the Daryal Gorge was replaced by Ossetian, and the Ingush migrated to the right bank of the Terek River ^{[2, p. 126]}. And it is logical to assume that some of these refugees settled in the Targimkhoevsky farm of Zaurov.

It is noteworthy that S. M. Bronevsky at the beginning of the XIX century, as well as L. L. Shterder at the end of the XVIII century, did not classify the Saurovites as Ingush. But unlike the latter, S. M. Bronevsky does not classify them as Ossetians, but as Kists (i.e., Jeyrakh societies): "Cysts, actually the so-called… Their villages, Zaurovo and Jerakh, are revered for the assembly places of two different societies, which, together with the villages assigned to them, enclose no more than 500 courtyards" ^{[32, p. 159]}. And further, the author actually gives an answer to the question about the nationality of these "Ossetian" refugees: "According to the names of their main villages, Russians call them Zaurovtsy and Dzheyrakhovtsy, and generally Kistins, without mixing them with Ingush; but the Mountain peoples call them Galgai by the same name as Ingush" ^{[32, p. 160]}. In other words, separating the Dzheyrakhov and Zaurov residents from the Ingush, the author unequivocally calls them cysts and reports that their neighbors are called Galgai in the same way as the Ingush.

J. Reineggs also distinguishes between cysts and Ingush and reports that "cysts spread to the Terek" ^{[29, p. 182]}.

By the way, L. L. Shteder, who accompanied him to the Ingush lands of the Sholkhinsky Ingush Saiku, calls him a relative of the foreman Zaurov Getty ^{[30, p. 221]}. According to Prof. A. N. Genko, Ghetta was an Ingush ^{[30, p. 695 (note 1)]}. According to the reports of the commandant of Vladikavkaz, this foreman Zaurov was among the Ingush who appeared under the walls of the fortress on a call for help ^{[33, p. 238]}. It should be noted that Zaurov was an important center of Ingush-Kists, not Ossetians ^{[32, p. 159]}, and served as one of the meeting places of the Mehkkhel ^{[33, p. 305]}.

In our opinion, the Ossetian name of Vladikavkaz – Dzaujyhau, comes from the Ingush name of the farm Zaurov – Zavg-Koa // Zovg-Koa, which means "yard, settlement of Zavga". Zaurov was indeed a settlement from the large Ingush settlement of Sholkhi. In 1784, about 30 households lived in it ^{[2, p. 161]}. Compare, for example, with the names of the villages Gazi-Yurt and Psedakh. Today these are quite large villages, but the Ingush and Chechens in the popular speech still retain their old names when they were small farms – GIazi-Koa and Duola-Koa, respectively. Gazi-yurt originated as a settlement with. Ekazhevo.

E. I. Krupnov calls the founder of Zaurov the son of the head of the "vyar Malsag" Dzavga (Dzaura) ^{[34, p. 166]}. According to genealogical data, Dzavg was born in 1710. He was the son of Myatazh Malsagov, founded the village. Zaurovo in the mid-1730s, and his grandson Temurko, born in 1780, founded a village in the early 19th century. Temurko is near the village of Zaur Malsagov's grandfather, two versts closer to the fortress ^{[35, p. 42]}.

It is interesting to note that Yu. Klaproth recorded the Ingush pronunciation of the second part of the name of this farm, as Sau kva (i.e. Zavg-Koa). Whereas in the Ossetian version we would expect to see Dzau kau or Sau kau.

Moreover, the Ossetian version of the name confirms that Zaurov was an Ingush farm. This was also noted by D. V. Rakovich: "finally, by their name Vladikavkaz Dzauji-Kau, the Ossetians confirm this opinion, because Dzauag is a proper name for Zaur, and Kau means a village; otherwise, the village of Zaur" ^{[31, p. 5]}. It is noteworthy that the name Dzuag, according to D. V. Rakovich, is a variant of the name Zaur. But Ossetians do not have such a variant of the name Zaur. In our opinion, Zavg // Zovg is a Vainakh diminutive form of this name. For example, such as Alaig (Alaudin), Bahyaig (Bagaudin), Savaig (Savar), Amig (Ahmad), etc. Chechens even have the surname Zavgaev. In other words, if the farm had been founded by the Ossetian Zaur, then the Ossetians would not have called it Dzaeudzhykhaeu, but Dzaeurykhaeu. In the Ossetian language, the consonant sound g before the vowels i, y, e passes into the affricate J. This is a feature of many Indo-European languages.

Special attention is drawn to the fact that Ossetians call Dzaujyhaeu not Zaurov himself, but a Russian fortress founded to the northwest of this farm. Prof. B. V. Skitskiy writes: "The fortress was founded near the Ossetian village, known to the Ossetian people as Dzaujikau, which means "Dzauga village", named after the first founder of this settlement. Since that time, Ossetians have called Vladikavkaz Dzaujikau to the present day and they had no other name for it. With the foundation of the fortress, Ossetians from the mountains immediately began to settle near its walls" ^{[36, p. 194]}. It should be noted here that B. V. Skitsky wrote in 1947, when the Ingush were in exile, and Ingush settlements and architectural monuments were attributed to Ossetians and other peoples. It is important for us here that the author confirms the founding of Vladikavkaz near the village of Dzauga and that the Ossetians did not know any other name for the city except Dzaujikau.

It is no coincidence that the Georgian writer A.M. Kazbegi, who visited these places in the second half of the XIX century, writes that the Dzauga farm was renamed Vladikavkaz by the Russians, because he asked Ossetians about it [Kazbegi A.M. Pastoral memories. 1886 . Chapter 6. URL: https://www.litres.ru/book/aleksandr-kazbegi/pastusheskie-vospominaniya-176393/chitat-onlayn/page-5 / ]. A.M. Kazbegi wrote his works in 1880-1886, when the Ingush settlements around Vladikavkaz had already been liquidated, and Cossack villages and, partly, Ossetian farms were founded in their place (or nearby). In other words, the author conveys the Ossetian idea of the foundation of Vladikavkaz. At the same time, the farm itself does not call it Ossetian.

E. I. Krupnov writes that Ossetians and Vainakhs call Vladikavkaz Dzaujikau and Dzaug-Kau ^{[34, p. 166]}. However, regarding the Vainakhs, it is difficult to agree with the author's statement, since there is no evidence that they ever called the fortress itself that way. On the contrary, the Ingush or Chechens clearly distinguished their farm from the Russian fortress, calling the latter Buro (Chechen Buri), which means "fortress, city". In other words, the Vainakhs were not called and are not called to this day Vladikavkaz Zavg-Koa. The reason for this, in our opinion, is that the Ingush lived directly in this area and, therefore, saw that the fortress was being laid by the Russians not on the site of their farm, but nearby. Indeed, the fortress was laid 4 km away. to the northwest of it ^{[2, p. 161]}. At the same time, in the minds of the Ossetians who lived at the end of the XVIII century. far in the mountains, the fortress was founded on the site of the settlement of Dzavga. When the Russians settled them next to the fortress, they continued to call it by that name.

At the end of the XVIII century, J. Reineggs writes: "The Inkuchi consider several villages from themselves, namely: 200 yards that settled at Shalgu and the village of Saur, lying near the fortress. Vladikavkaz got its start from them" ^{[35, p. 51]}. And at the beginning of the XX century, in the journal "Caucasian Highlander", edited by Ahmed Tsalikov (Ossetian by nationality), it was reported that Vladikavkaz was founded in "1784 on the site of the Galgaevsky village Dzaur-Yurt, on the right bank of the Terek" ^{[37, p. 49]}.

Of course, natural Ossetians, who were forced to leave their homes due to blood feud, may have settled among the Ingush. However, in the second half of the XVIII century. we observe the mass resettlement of the so-called "Ossetians". At the same time, there is no data on such migration of Ossetians to Ingush villages and on possible reasons for this. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that the Dzheyrakhov and other settlers from the territory of modern Ossetia were mainly Vainakhs.

In our opinion, the Dzheyrakhovs, including the Tsurovs, are not of Kist, but of Dzurdzuk origin. And the Dzurdzuk colonists received their name after moving to the Jeyrakh gorge.

According to legend, the ancestor of the Jerakhs was Jerakhmat, who from time immemorial settled in the gorge of the Armkhi river, which became known by his name as the Dzheyrakhsky.Jerakhmat controlled the Daryal Gorge and collected tolls on it. His son named Lors founded the village of Lars in the Daryal gorge ^{[38, p. 13; 1, p. 67]}.

In another legend, Jerakhmat is called a "Persian native." But, in general, these two legends are called the ancestor of the Dzherakhmat Jeyrakh people. However, there is another legend according to which the founder of this society was a Galgaevite named Levan ^{[39, p. 63]}. Ch. E. Akhriev gives this legend in more detail. It says that Levan moved to the Dzheyrakh gorge and founded Dzheyrakh here. Although Levan is called the first settler in this village, but cysts apparently lived around this place. This is evidenced by the name of the village Aban-Kistena (which is etymologized as Aban Kistinsky). In the future, "life became cramped" and Levan demanded from his descendants the Hamatkhanovs and the Tsurovs to move to other places. But they were not very willing to leave the inhabited places, and Levan had to force them to relocate ^{[18, pp. 30-31]}.

Interestingly, this legend mentions a holiday dedicated to the cult of Tsu:"In order to connect the descendants, Levan organized a holiday: "fraternal saint" (tsu). A chapel has been built at the place where they gather for the holiday.... One day, on the day of the feast, on Sunday, before dawn, the Hogs went with the victim to the chapel. One of them decided to make a joke and took a stuffed pigeon: it suddenly became alive and flew away. The others, when they arrived, did not find the stuffed pigeon. Since then, the Hogs have become poor" ^{[18, pp. 30-31]}. As noted above, Tsu was the main Dzurdzuk cult. G. J. Gumba, by the way, cites a large number of toponyms with the root ca // qi // tsu, found in Ossetia ^{[17, pp. 153-164]}. It is no coincidence that the Hogs joked about this cult, since, in our opinion, they were from the Argov tribe, for whom, apparently, this cult did not have such a significant status as for the Dzurdzuk.

So, the Jeyrakh people, in addition to Jerakhmat, considered Levan the Galgai as their ethnarch (i.e., they produce themselves from the Galgai). How can we compare seemingly contradictory data from two sources? We believe that the root of the name Jerakhmat is the name of the Arab commander Jarrah ibn Abdullah al Hakami, who in 724 passed through the Daryal Gorge to the North Caucasus and brought the Alans (under which various peoples, including the Vainakhs, hid) into submission. And Jarrah al Hakimi became a Persian in the minds of the local population, apparently, because at various times he was the governor of Basra, Sistan and Khorasan, where the Persians lived.

The legend about Jerakhmat says that "some time after this resettlement, outsiders began to come to the Dzheyrakh gorge and inhabited vacant places — with the permission of Jerakhmat. The latter defended the new settlers with his squad and for this he enjoyed very significant rights over the rest of the population" ^{[38, p. 13]}. Here, Jerahmat appears as a military commander leading a squad, which is consistent with the status of commander Jarah al Hakami. The territory conquered by Jarrah became known by his name Jarrah-Matt – "the area / / the country of Jarrah". In the Nakh languages, mott (from more ancient. forms matt w) – "place, locality, country". But perhaps in this case we are dealing with a Semite. mat – "country". The fact that the final mat is an addition to the name Jarrah may be evidenced by the name of S. Jeyrah (Jerrach Jarrah). In other words, the eponym of the Dzheyrakh people is derived from the name of the locality Jerah-Mat. Jarrah al Hakami himself did not settle here, but after appointing a manager, he left these places.

As we can see, all these three legends do not contradict, but complement each other: the legends about Jerakhmat tell us about the reasons for the appearance of the name zh I airkhoy; the legend about Levan informs about the origin of the Dzheyrakh people. The name Levan, in our opinion, is an eponym of the area on the left bank of the Terek River, from where the Ingush and Ossetian surnames of the Lyanovs may originate. This area was probably located in the area of the village of Liya in the Lyadon gorge, in the area of the Tepli massif, where the river of the same name flows ^{[19, p. 27]}.

In other words, Levan represents a part of the Dzurdzuk migrations from the western bank of the Terek River, which, having displaced related cysts, occupied the lower reaches of the Armkhi River. Perhaps as a result of this, as well as due to the Kabardian expansion, some of the cysts were forced to migrate to the Daryal Gorge and the gorge of the river. Okhkarkhi, where they occupy the territory of Dzurdzuketi, giving it a new name Gwileti (eng. Ghielate, possibly means "gelov // galov country"). From them, the Okhkarkhi river gets the second name Kistinka. Another part may have been forced to move to the upper reaches of the Argun River, where they formed the Melkhist society (Chechen, ing. mailhiy). Compare with the Ossetian name of the Armkhi – Maehaeldon river, which translates as "mahalov river". It is noteworthy that the Melkhistines have a teip Jiarkhoi, whose name may be of the same root as JIayrakha – "dzheyrakhovtsy". The name of the tape among the Ingush and Chechens is almost always derived from the name of the settlement or locality.

In the end, we will point to another legend, which says that the ancestors of the Obankhoi were Orchestoi and came from the Balta ^{[18, p. 26]}. In other words, it is explicitly stated here that Orchestonians settled in Obbon (i.e. Dzurdzuki, oset. tsarziata).

Thus, the main reason for classifying the Dzheyrakh people as an "Ossetian tribe" in some sources of the XIX century was that this Ingush society was formed by Vainakh settlers from the left bank of the Terek River, who underwent significant Iranization due to long-term cohabitation with the numerically predominant Ossetian population. The direction of migration flows was determined by the onslaught of Ossetian and Kabardian tribes coming from the northwest. As a result, a significant part of the Vainakh population between the Terek and Ardon rivers gradually moved to the east and by the beginning of the XIX century finally moved to the right bank of the Terek River, where their kindred tribes lived. The choice of a new place of residence by the settlers was determined, as a rule, by its geographical location, economic significance, as well as the attitude of the local population towards them. Therefore, in some cases, migrants settled in Ingush farms and completely dissolved among the indigenous inhabitants, while in others they founded new settlements and societies. One of these societies, formed by Vainakh settlers from the left bank of the Terek River around the 16th century, became the Dzheyrakhovskoye.