Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Udis
Udis (self-designation Udi, Uti) are one of the most ancient peoples of the Eastern Caucasus.
Language
They speak the Udi language belonging to the Lezgin subgroup of the Nakh-Dagestan branch of the Northern Caucasus language family. Its dialects are Vartashen and Nij. The Azerbaijani and Armenian languages are also widespread.
Dispersion
The most significant groups of Udis in Russia live in the Rostov region (mostly in the city of Shakhty, in the Azovsky, Myasnikovsky, Salsky districts, Taganrog, Rostov-on-Don) and in the Krasnodar territory and the Volgograd region.
Traditional occupations
The traditional Udi economy was based on irrigated cropping, rice growing, silkworm husbandry and, on a small scale, cattle raising. The most developed craft was pottery (making dinnerware and tiles).
Dwellings
The Udi villages are located in the submontane areas and have a loose scattered layout. A homestead includes a utility yard and an orchard and is enclosed with wickerwork or stone enclosure. The houses are single-storey, built from stone or sun-dried earth bricks on a high stone foundation, the roof has two or four sloped surfaces and is made from straw, later from tiles. In the center of the living quarters, there is an open hearth-bonfire which was in the end of the 20th century replaced with a fireplace with a chimney; later, iron temporary ovens appeared. By the early 20th century, two-storey stone houses with a gallery (eyvan) and wide windows with glass panes started to be built.
Clothes
By the late 19th century, the Udi clothes were similar to the clothes of the Karabakh Armenians. Men wore chokhas with cartridge belts sewn on, with a wide neckhole, a shorter arkhaluk jacket, buttoned close, with a stand-up collar, a gurat undershirt and trousers. The arkhaluk was tied with a belt with silver plates and a dagger. The headgear was a conic sheepskin papakha hat. The women’s upper clothes are: wide long trousers, a very wide skirt over which a knee-length arkhaluk is worn, gathered at the waist, with long sleeves split along their whole length. The arkhaluk was belted with a wide fabric or silver belt with a large buckle. The women’s headgear consisted of several headscarves and was decorated on the forehead with a silver chain with silver coins, and on the temples with fabric strips with silver coins. Married women covered the lower part of their faces with a scarf (yashmag). The modern Udis wear city-type clothes.
Food
The Udi diet was based on plant products: kidney beans, rice, walnuts, vegetables, greenery, fruit, berries. Bread was baked using wheat flour in the torne oven. An important part in the diet was played by various types of pilaf made from rice, kidney beans, raisins, date plums, chestnuts, walnuts. Fried and cooked chestnuts are popular. There are many vegetable dishes. Wild greenery, fruit, berries, and in particular nettle and sorrel were used for food. An important part of the diet is constituted by dairy products and various fried egg dishes. For holidays and festivities or when a guest arrives, meat dishes are obligatory. Sturgeon, starry sturgeon, salmon, crayfish, lamprey dishes are widespread.
