Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Dargins
Their self-designation is Dargan. They are one of the peoples inhabiting the Republic of Dagestan.
Language
The Dargins speak the Dargin language belonging to the Nakh-Dagestani group of the Northern Caucasus language family. The main dialects are Akusha, Urakha, Tsudakhar, Sirkhin, Khaydak, Muira, Hubden, Mekegui, Kadar, Chirag, Megeb, Kubachi. The standard language started to form in Soviet times on the basis of the Akusha dialect. The Dargin writing originated in the early Middle Ages; judging by archeological materials, it was Albanian (Caucasian). After the spread of Islam, the Arabic script became established. Since the 15th century, attempts had already started to adapt it for Dagestanian languages, and by the 17th century the Dagestani writing system on the basis of the Arabic script (adjam) took root and became widespread. In Soviet times, the writing system was switched to the use of a Russian script as a base (Cyrillic alphabet).
Society
The basis of the social organization of the Dargins is the village community jamaat. The communities formed the unions of village societies. The prevailing form of the family is nuclear; however, by the early 20th century there still were unseparated families. There were still tukhums – patrilinear groups of families descended from the same forefather – in existence.
Settlements and dwellings
The mountain settlements of the Dargins are mostly crowded, terrace-like; in the foothills, they settle more freely, houses have courtyards. The oldest dwellings are of the one-chamber type, with a hearth in the middle. The main type of dwelling in the mountains is two- and multi-storey houses with flat roof, in the foothills there are two- and one-storey houses.
Occupations
Agriculture, cattle breeding, processing wool (woolen cloths, palas napless carpets, knitted articles), leather, stone and wood, pottery (Sulevkent village). Metalwork: smithing, bronze-casting (copper embossing), weaponsmithing and jewelry (famous Kubachi jewellers). Silk and gold embroidery. The current economy of the Dargins is based on traditional occupations.
