Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Didoi
The Didoi (self-designation Tsezi) are an ethnic group of the Avars.
Language
The Didoi speak the Didoic (Tsezic) language which belongs to the Tsezic subgroup of the Avar-Ando-Tsezic branch of the Nakh-Dagestan language family.
Dispersion
On the territory of Dagestan, the Didoi form the majority of the population of the Tsunta district (see also Didoetia) and also inhabit the villages of the Tsumada district – Khushet, Khvarshini, Tsikhalakh – and the Vyshe-Talovka village of the Kizlyar district. The Didoi constitute a part of the population of the villages Kirovaul, Stalskoye, Komsomolskoye of the Kizilyurt district and Mutsalaul of the Khasavyurt district.
Society
The Didoi were organized into jamaat communities, kinship unions tukhum were typical.
Traditional occupations
The traditional occupations of the Didoi were: cattle breeding, in particular, sheep breeding; plough farming (barley, rye, oats, wheat, legumes). Such crafts as fullery, leather and sheepskin processing, smithing and making wooden household utensils were well-developed.
Dwellings
The settlements are of the stepped-cumulous type; they were reinforced with battle towers. The main type of the dwelling was a stone building of two or three storeys, rectangular in plan, with the first storeys being given over to economic and housekeeping purposes and the upper one used for living.
Traditional clothes
Traditional clothes were of the common Dagestani type, for men: shirt, trousers, beshmet undertunic, chokha, burka cloak, sheepskin coats and papakha tall hats, knitted wool boots, footwear made from rawhide, chrome leather, felt, wood, etc. The men shaved their heads and wore mustaches and beards. Women’s clothes consisted of: tunic-style shirt dresses, trousers, braid-covering bonnets, woolen and silk headscarves, shawls, the same footwear as for the men. Women’s silver decorations were earrings, rings, bracelets, forehead and chest decorations, etc.
Food
The traditional food was flour- and meat- and dairy-based.
