ÿþ<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <meta name="Author" content="Vassil Karloukovski"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0"> <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> <title>Hudud al-'Alam - 48 - Commentary of V. Minorsky</title> </head> <body> <font face="Palatino Linotype"> <b><font size=+1>Hudud al-'Alam, The Regions of the World</font></b> <br><b>V. Minorsky</b> <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><b>§ 48. The Aln.</b> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">Vsevolod Miller, <i>Osetinskiye et'ud<img SRC="i_k.jpg" height=17 width=8 align=ABSBOTTOM></i>, iii, Moscow, 1887, pp. 1-116; J. Kulakovsky, <i>Christianity of the Alans</i> (in Russian), in <i>Vizantiyskiy Vremennik</i>, v, 1898, pp. 1-18 [according to the author the Alans were converted <i>en masse</i> only in the beginning of the tenth century, while Nicholas the Mystic was patriarch in Constantinople in 901-7 and 912-25] ; J. Kulakovsky, <i>The Alans according to Classical and Byzantine Authors</i> (in Russian), Kiev 1899 [a very thorough study]; Marquart, <i>Streifzüge</i>, pp. 165-71; Täubler, <i>Zur Geschichte der Alanen</i>, in <i>Klio</i>, ix, 1909, pp. 14-28 (notes on ancient history); Barthold, <i>Alln</i> in <i>EI</i>; Marquart, <i>Komanen</i>, pp. 107-9 (the Alns to the east of the Caspian Sea); Bleichsteiner, <i>Das Volk d. Alane</i>n, in <i>Berichte d. Forschungs-Institutes f. Osten und Orient</i>, Wien, ii, 1918, pp. 4-16; Marquart, <i>Iberer und Hyrcanier</i>, in <i>Caucasica</i>, fasc. 8, 1931, pp. 79-88 (critical remarks on Täubler). [J. Charpentier, <i>Die ethnographische Stellung d. Tocharer</i>, in <i>ZDMG</i>, 71, 1917, pp. 347-88, contains (pp. 357-66) a detailed study of the Osset connexions; the author makes a point of showing the identity of the <i>Wu-sun</i> (Chinese name of a people in the neighbourhood of the Issikul),&nbsp;<img SRC="444_2.jpg" height=17 width=52 align=ABSBOTTOM>, <i>Asiani</i> (who towards </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><img SRC="line_down.gif" height=18 width=596> <br>§48&nbsp;&nbsp;<i> The Alan&nbsp;</i>&nbsp; 445 </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">A.D. 200 became the lords of the Tocharians, as results from Justin's epitome of Trogus Pompeius) and <i>Alani</i> [?]. As regards the Caucasus Charpentier, p. 363, considers the Ossets as an independent branch of the great Aln people.] <a href="#445 1.">[1]</a> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">§§ 48 and 49 ought to come logically after § 36 (Shirvn). </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">The Iranian Alns, later called&nbsp;s (cf. § 50, 4. T</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">kls) were the ancestors of the present-day Ossets (from Georgian <i>Ovs-et'i &lt; As</i>). All the bearings of the frontiers in this paragraph must be rectified by 90° (<i>e.g.</i>, instead of <i>east</i> read: <i>north</i>; instead of <i>west</i> read: <i>south</i>). The item on the Alns bordering in the west (*<i>south</i>) on the Rkm is explained by the fact that the Georgians (Gurz) are described under the Byzantine Empire (§42, 15.). </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">[<i>Additional note</i>. In the <i>Armenian Geography</i> composed towards the eighth century (?) the westernmost Alns are called <i>Ashtigor</i>. The name, most probably, is an Armenian rendering of *<i>As-Digor</i>. <i>Digor</i> (further appearing in the same <i>Geography</i> as <i>Dik'or</i>) is the name of the present-day western Ossets, cf. Marquart, <i>Streifzüge</i>, 170. <i>Ash</i> as an original form is hardly possible there being no&nbsp;<i>a</i> in Osset (at least in the present-day dialects and the appearance of this foreign sound must account for the surd<i> t </i>of <i>Tigor</i> (instead of *<i>Digor</i>). <a href="#445 2.">[2]</a> The restoration *<i>As</i> can be supported by the fact that nowadays the Ossets call their western neighbours the Balqar Turks <i>Asiag</i> and their territory <i>Asi</i><a href="#445 3.">[3]</a> having evidently transferred to them the name of their own tribe which formerly occupied the region near the Elburz. <a href="#445 4.">[4]</a> Some temporary elevation of this particular branch may account for the generalization in Muslim literature of the Mongol epoch (thirteenth century) of the term&nbsp;<i>s</i>, instead of the older <i>Aln</i>. However, the Mongol dominion, under which many&nbsp;<i>s</i> were carried away as far as China must have dealt a fatal blow to the western Ossets. Probably at that time (?) the region near the Elbrus (<i>i.e.</i> the valleys along the westernmost sources of the Terek and the easternmost sources of the Kuban), was occupied by the Turks now respectively called <i>Balqar</i> and <i>Qara-chay</i>. </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">According to I.R., 148, the noblest (<i>ashraf</i>)of the four Aln tribes, the one to which the king belonged, was called&nbsp;<img SRC="445_1.jpg" height=24 width=57 align=ABSBOTTOM> *<i>D.khs-s</i>. <a href="#445 5.">[5]</a> The *T</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"><i>uwal-s</i> mentioned in our § 50, 4. may be another ramification of the&nbsp;<i>s</i>. As the&nbsp;T</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"><i>uwal-s</i> are coupled together with the Abkhaz their notoriety may be due to their holding some important pass (<i>e.g.</i> the Klukhor connecting the Qara-chay territory with Abkhazia). At present <i>Twal-tä</i> is the name of the Ossets living on the southern slope of the Caucasian range but they may have been pushed south-eastwards by some wave of Turkish invasion.] <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="445 1."></a><font size=-1><b>1.</b> All this is rather obscure.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="445 2."></a><font size=-1><b>2.</b> That the Osset <i>s</i> sounded to a foreign ear like&nbsp;<i>a</i> is shown by such names on the Turkish (former Osset) territory as <i>Ashtotur</i> &lt; Oss. <i>Was-Totur</i> "Saint Theodore", Miller, <i>Oset. Et'ud<img SRC="i_k.jpg" height=17 width=8 align=ABSBOTTOM></i>, iii, 8.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="445 3."></a><font size=-1><b>3.</b> Miller, <i>o.c.</i>, iii, 6-7.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="445 4."></a><font size=-1><b>4.</b> Const. Porph., <i>De cerimoniis</i>, ii. 48, speaks separately of the&nbsp;<img SRC="445_2a.jpg" height=19 width=110 align=ABSBOTTOM><img SRC="445_2b.jpg" height=18 width=67 align=ABSBOTTOM> and the&nbsp;<img SRC="445_3.jpg" height=20 width=129 align=ABSBOTTOM> (in whose land the&nbsp;<img SRC="445_4.jpg" height=17 width=120 align=ABSBOTTOM> = Darial are situated). This&nbsp;<img SRC="445_5.jpg" height=18 width=45 align=ABSBOTTOM> may possibly refer to the&nbsp;<i>s</i>?</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="445 5."></a><font size=-1><b>5.</b> Perhaps&nbsp;<img SRC="445_6.jpg" height=23 width=65 align=ABSBOTTOM><i>Rukhs-s</i>, cf. <i>Roxalani</i>?</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><img SRC="line_down.gif" height=18 width=596> <br>446&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Commentary</i>&nbsp;&nbsp; § 48 </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">1. Ksak (as in Mas'kd+, <i>Tanb+h</i>, 184:&nbsp;<img SRC="446_1.jpg" height=26 width=67 align=ABSBOTTOM>) but <i>Murkj</i>, ii, 45:&nbsp;<img SRC="446_2.jpg" height=21 width=46 align=ABSBOTTOM>, <a href="#446 1.">[1]</a> corresponds to Byzantine&nbsp;<img SRC="446_3.jpg" height=23 width=74 align=ABSBOTTOM>, old Russian&nbsp;<img SRC="446_4.jpg" height=18 width=69 align=ABSBOTTOM>, <a href="#446 2.">[2]</a> <i>i.e.</i> the present-day Cherkes (Circassians) who are of Caucasian race and speak a non-Indoeuropean language. According to the <i>Murkj</i>, ii, 45-6, the Kashak who did not live united under one king, were weaker than the Alns but could resist them in the fortresses situated along the coast. Our author must have misunderstood his source for he speaks of the Ksak under the Aln and consequently draws the latter's northern (read: *<i>western</i>) frontier along the Black sea coast. Marquart, <i>Komanen</i>, 181 , explains the later name Cherkes from Persian *<i>chahr-kas</i> "the four tribes of the Kas" ( ?), cf. also <i>Streifzüge</i>, 10, 145, 161, 175, 479. The Cherkes call themselves by an entirely different name <i>Ad<img SRC="i_k.jpg" height=17 width=8 align=ABSBOTTOM>ge</i>. </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">The Kashak are not mentioned in I.R., Is</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">t</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">, or Gard+z+ and here again, as in the account of <i>Lyzn</i> (§ 36, 36.) we find in the&nbsp;H</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">.-'. some common traits with Mas'kd+. </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">2. <i>Khayln </i>( ?) is otherwise unknown, unless it is a repetition of <i>Khaydn</i> mentioned under the Sar+r (§ 49, 2.), but Khaydn was separated from the Aln territory by the whole length of the Sar+r. </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">3. <i>Dar-i Aln</i>, cf. § 5, 18 D., is the celebrated <i>Bb al-Ln</i>, i.e. the Darial pass in Central Caucasus on the Military Georgian road connecting Vladikavkaz with Tiflis. The Ossets now live astride of the pass [cf. § 36, 33.]. Our author shows no direct knowledge of the description of the Aln castle (<i>Qal'at al-Ln</i>) in Mas'kd+, ii, 42. The item about the 1,000 guards of the fortress is found in Ibn Rusta, 148. <a href="#446 3.">[3]</a> The detail about the Christian religion of the king agrees with Ibn Rusta, 148, and Gard+z+, where it is expressly stated that the king's subjects are heathens. <i>V.s.</i>, p. 444, 1. 26. </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">According to Mas'kd+, ii, 42, the capital of the Alns was called&nbsp;<img SRC="446_5.jpg" height=30 width=35 align=ABSBOTTOM> *<i>Maghas</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"><sup>un</sup></i> meaning "piety" (<i>diyna</i>). It is not mentioned in any other Muslim source but may be connected with the city <i>A-su Mie-k'ie-sz'</i> (probably "M., city of the&nbsp;s") which is several times mentioned in Chinese sources (<i>Yuän-shi</i>, &amp;c.) in the accounts of Mangk's expedition in Northern Caucasus in A.D. 1239, cf. Bretschneider, <i>Mediaeval researches</i>, i, 316-7. <a href="#446 4.">[4]</a> See also Pelliot, <i>Jour. As.</i>, April 1920, pp. 168-9, who further identifies the town of the Chinese sources with&nbsp;<img SRC="446_6.jpg" height=24 width=33 align=ABSBOTTOM> or&nbsp;<img SRC="446_7.jpg" height=24 width=38 align=ABSBOTTOM> mentioned in Rash+d al-d+n, ed. Blochet, pp. 43, 47, after the expeditions to&nbsp;<img SRC="446_8.jpg" height=24 width=28 align=ABSBOTTOM> (<i>Qrim</i>? "Crimea") and before that to Darband. However, in Juvayn+, GMS, i, 222,&nbsp;<img SRC="446_9.jpg" height=24 width=33 align=ABSBOTTOM> (var.&nbsp;<img SRC="446_10.jpg" height=24 width=35 align=ABSBOTTOM>) mentioned together with Bulghr seems to refer to the Moksha (a Mordvan tribe, cf. § 52) and such may be the case of p. 225<sub>1</sub> ; p. 224<sub>4<img SRC="446_11.jpg" height=25 width=28 align=ABSBOTTOM></sub> is perhaps also a mis-spelling of the same name. <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="446 1."></a><font size=-1><b>1.</b> In the Tanb+h, 184, both <i>Ksak </i>and <i>Kashak</i> are mentioned erroneously as separate peoples.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="446 2."></a><font size=-1><b>2.</b> Instead of <i>Gara</i> and <i>K'ut</i> in the <i>Armenian Geography</i>, Marquart, <i>Komanen</i>, 181, suggests to read <i>K'ara</i> (i.e. <i>Kashak</i>, <i>Cherkes</i>) and <i>Gut</i> (<i>i.e.</i> Crimean [?] Goths).</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="446 3."></a><font size=-1><b>3.</b> <i>V.s.</i> p. 68, note 1.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="446 4."></a><font size=-1><b>4.</b> It is more difficult to connect the Chinese name with the eastern neighhours of the Ossets the Chechen called in Russian sources <i>Michkiz</i>, <i>Mizjeg</i>, &amp;c.</font> <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">[<a href="hud_48.html">Previous</a>] [<a href="hud_49.html">Next</a>] <br>[<a href="index.html">Back to Index</a>] </font> </body> </html>