Erzi (Russian: Эрзи; Ingush: Аьрзи, romanized: Ärzi, lit. 'Eagle') is a medieval village (aul) in the Dzheyrakhsky District of Ingushetia. It is part of the rural settlement (administrative center) of Olgeti.[4] The entire territory of the settlement is included in the Dzheyrakh-Assa State Historical-Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve and is under state protection.
Erzi
Эрзи | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Ingush | Аьрзи |
 | |
 Interactive map of Erzi | |
  Erzi Location of Erzi  Erzi Erzi (Republic of Ingushetia) | |
| Coordinates: 42°48′13″N 44°45′34″E / 42.80361°N 44.75944°E | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Ingushetia |
| Elevation | 2,000 m (6,600 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 0 |
| 0 ) | |
| • Subordinated to | Dzheyrakhsky District |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK  [3]) |
| OKTMO ID | 26620420126 |
Nomenclature
editGeography
editIt is located in western part of the mountainous region of Ingushetia 1315 m above sea level on the right bank of the Armkhi River, clearly visible from the road, and considered te be one of the main monuments of the Erzi Nature Reserve. The nearest tower settlements are: in the north — Hamishke and Koshk, in the southeast — Kerbite, in the west — Lyazhgi, in the east — Angeti.[7]
History
editThe settlement is traditionally considered to have been founded by Prince Kist, while his son Cha is credited with building its fortified towers.[8] His descendants formed the Oartskhoy clan, whose branches include several influential Ingush families, notably the Yandievs, Mamilovs, and Aldaganovs. The name Oartskhoy combines the name of the settlement, Erzi, with the suffix -khoy (meaning 'of') and thus translates as 'of Erzi'. Other sources attribute the establishment of Erzi to Yand,[9] progenitor of the Yandiev family, the 'principal family‘[10] of Erzi, who kept guard there and took tribute for passage.[11]
Erzi was home to several Ingush families, territorially attributed to the Fyappin, Metskhalin or Kistin society.[12][13][14]
Ethnographic accounts from Erzi describe its inhabitants as engaging in raids, during which captives were taken and held for ransom. Those who were not ransomed became slaves or were sold.[15]
On May 14, 1733, Bodscha and Karadscha Yandiev, swore an oath of allegiance to Vakhtang VI of Kartli.[16]
On January 8, 1811, Erzi became part of the Russian Empire through an agreement signed by Khasa and Itar Yandiev.[17]
During the pre-Islamic period, a strong cultural and religious relationship existed with the neighbouring tower complexes Tyarsh and Shoan.[18]
In 2012–2015 the tower complex was reconstructed. It has 8 combat, 2 semi-combat, 47 residential towers, 1 temple, and over 20 burial grounds, including the mausoleum of the famous tower builder Yand.[19]
In 2019, carbon dating of a tower at Erzi indicated that it was constructed between 1683 and 1723.[20]
In 1931, a rare and very important find was made in the village of Erzi: a bronze censer in the shape of an eagle, known as Suleyman's Eagle, though some historians believe it be a detail of an ancient military standard. It was made in the 8th century (year 189 of the Hijri calendar) in the Arab Caliphate. In 1936 the statue was relocated to St. Petersburg, where it is exhibited in the Hall of the Culture and Art of the Hermitage Museum.[21]
"Apparently, strong birds enjoyed special reverence among the local highlanders, and may have been the totem of the inhabitants of Erzi. It is no coincidence that the ancient and numerous family of the Mamilovs (the native Erzians), had an image of an eagle as their coat of arms. It is likewise no coincidence that the Armkhi River, roaring deep in the gorge, received from Ossetian neighbors, the, at first glance, unexpected name “Makkal-don” (meaning “river of kites”), and the Ingush themselves, the inhabitants of the gorge, are called among the Ossetians “Makkal” or “Makkalon” ”, i.e. "kite people". The eagle and the kite in ornithology (the science of birds) are close relatives, they belong to the same family – hawks. Consequently, behind the Ossetian "makkal" and the Ingush "erzi" are close concepts of raptors, the special role of which in the life and religious ideas of the population of the Dzherakh Gorge left an indelible mark in these places."
In literature
editErzi serves as the real-world basis for the village of "Arzia" in the 1883 novel The Patricide by the classic Georgian writer Alexander Kazbegi. In the text, the settlement is located beyond the Gvirgala (Gveleti) mountain pass near the Khde gorge and is described as being inhabited by "Kistins".
In the plot, Arzia serves as a safe haven for the protagonists. A local resident named Parcho and his family shelter the fugitives Koba and Vepkhia after their escape from a Russian Cossack outpost, while a local healer tends to the wounded Iago until he is fit to continue his journey.[23]
Gallery
edit
View on aul Erzi and the Armkhi valley. Late XIX century.
Tourists arriving at Erzi village at the end of the XIX century.
References
edit- ↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
- ↑ Итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2020 года. Федеральная служба государственной статистики. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ↑ "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Ольгетинская сельский округ (сельсовет)* (Джейрахский район)" [Olgeti Rural settlement (village council)* (Dzheyrakhsky District)]. www.ocato.ru. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
- ↑ Мальсагов 1925, p. 122.
- ↑ Т.М. Акимова, Л.Г. Бараг, ed. (1976). Фольклор народов РСФСР (in Russian). Башкирский государственный университет. p. 58.
- ↑ Проект «Открытый Кавказ». "Карта" (in Russian). Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ↑ Akhriev, Ch. E. (1875). "Ингуши. Их предания, верования и поверья" [Ingush. Their legends, beliefs and beliefs]. Сборник сведений о кавказских горцах [Collection of information about the Caucasian highlanders] (in Russian) (8th ed.). Tiflis. pp. 1–40.
- ↑ Г. Д. Чиковани, ЧИЭЭ, 1979, ТЕТр. II, 12., Стр. 127
- ↑ Baddeley, John F. (1940). The Rugged Flanks of Caucasus. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press: Humphrey Milford. p. 209
- ↑ И.А. Дахкильгов, Антология ингушского фольклора, т. 7 с. 66–67
- ↑ Сборник документов и материалов 2020, pp. 486–487 (РГВИА. Ф. 13454. ОП. 15. Д. 202. Л. 101—111).
- ↑ Сборник документов и материалов 2020, pp. 596–604 (ЦГА РСО-А. Ф. 262. Оп. 1. Д. 77. Л. 76 об—92 об.).
- ↑ Сборникъ статистическихъ свѣдѣній о Кавказѣ 1869, p. 44.
- ↑ Робакидзе, А. И. (ed.). Кавказский этнографический сборник. Вып. II: Очерки этнографии горной Ингушетии. Тбилиси: Институт истории, археологии и этнографии им. И. Джавахишвили АН Грузинской ССР, 1968, pp. 138–139.
- ↑ Документы по взаимоотношениям Грузии с Северным Кавказом в XVIII в. 1968, pp. 122–126, Письма старшин горных провинций Гудамакари, Мтиулети, Кистетии, Тагаури и Хеви к царю Вахтангу VI, с изъявлением своей верноподданности.
- ↑ В январе 1811 года от генерала Тормасова к генералу Румянцеву. Акты К.А.К., т.4, стр. 904
- ↑ ИСХОДНЫЕ ФУНКЦИИ, СЕМАНТИКА И АНАЛОГИИ БОГА ДЯЛА В РЕЛИГИОЗНЫХ ВОЗЗРЕНИЯХ ИНГУШЕЙ АКИЕВА П. Х.
- ↑ Проект «Открытый Кавказ». "Эрзи" (in Russian). Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ↑ "The results of radiocarbon dating of the battle tower c. Erzi. Mountainous Ingushetia, Dzheirakhsky district". GKU 'ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER NAMED AFTER E.I. KRUPNOV'. Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Образ орла в ингушской символике" [The image of the eagle in Ingush symbolism]. ДЗУРДЗУКИ. May 24, 2015. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ↑ Виноградов 1966, pp. 159–160.
- ↑ Kazbegi, Alexander. "The Parricide". Литрес (in Russian). pp. 59, 67, 72, 74. Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
Bibliography
editRussian sources
edit- Виноградов, В. Б. (1966). Смирнов, К. Ф. (ed.). Тайны минувших времен [Secrets of past times] (PDF) (in Russian). Москва: Наука. pp. 1–167. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- Воронов, Н. И.; Кавказскій отдѣлъ Императорскаго русскаго географическаго общества (1869). "Списокъ горскихъ ауловъ Кубанской и Терской областей" [List of mountain villages of the Kuban and Terek Oblasts]. Сборникъ статистическихъ свѣдѣній о Кавказѣ [Collection of statistical information about the Caucasus] (in Russian). Vol. 1. Тифлисъ: Типографія Главнаго Управленія Намѣстника Кавказскаго; Типографія Меликова и К. pp. 41–52 (418–429 as PDF). Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- Гамрекели, В. П. (1968). Григолиа, К. Г. (ed.). Документы по взаимоотношениям Грузии с Северным Кавказом в XVIII в. [Documents on relations between Georgia and the North Caucasus in the 18th century] (in Russian). Тбилиси: Мецниереба. pp. 1–333. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- Картоев, М. М. (2020). Ингушетия в политике Российской империи на Кавказе. XIX век. Сборник документов и материалов [Ingushetia in the policy of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus. 19th century. Collection of documents and materials]. История Ингушетии: открытый архив (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Ростов-на-Дону: Южный издательский дом. pp. 1–760. ISBN 978-5-98864-060-8.
- Мальсагов, З. К. (1925). Ингушская грамматика со сборником ингушских слов [Ingush grammar with a collection of Ingush words] (in Russian). Владикавказ: Гостип. „СВЕТ“ И. А. О. pp. 1–224. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.