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Peoples of Russia
Khwarshi
The Khwarshi are an ethnic group of the Avars. They belong to the Tsezic group of peoples.
Language
They speak the Khwarshi language with slight dialectal features in each village. The Avar, Russian and Tindi languages are also widespread.
Dispersion
They live in Dagestan, in the southeastern part of the highland Tsumada district, along the ravine formed by the Khwarshinka river, a tributary of the Andi Koysu river, in the villages of the Tsumada district (Khwarshi, Khonokh, Upper and Lower Inkhokwari, Kvantlada, Santlada, Khwaini) and in the Khasavyurt district (Pervomayskoye, Oktyabrskoye and partly Mutsalaul). About 70% of the Khwarshi live on the plains – in the Khasavyurt and Kizilyurt districts of Dagestan.
Traditional occupations
The main occupation of the Khwarshi people is the yaila (distant pasture) cattle breeding, mostly sheep breeding. On the mountain slopes, the bogharic plough agriculture existed. Their ploughing tool was the most ancient highland plough, barutz. They cultivated barley, wheat, rye, millet. Of technical cultures, crown flax was cultivated, of the vegetable ones, pumpkins and carrots. The crafts are woolen cloth production and making special piled blankets, napless carpets, knitting woolen socks, boots, feltmaking, making wooden furniture, kitchen utensils, hollowed-out barrels and beehives. Beekeeping, wild honey hunting and hunting became developed. After the war, horticulture became widespread.
Dwellings
The dwellings are rectangular, mostly two-storey, made from stone, with turluk internal walls and with open loggias on the second storey. The first storey holds the shed and the second one is the residential space including the residential and decorative rooms; the roofs are flat and made from dirt. The role of the yard was often played by the roof of the house located lower. Wooden outbuildings to store food were attached to the house.
Clothes
The men’s costume consisted of a shirt, trousers, unbuttoned beshmet jacket and a chokha; in winter they wore various sheepskin fur coats, sheepskin jackets or felt cloaks. As headgear, white or black sheepskin papakha hats of several types were used: conical, cylindrical, from early 20th century in the form of an overturned trapezoid with a white woolen bottom. The most widespread footwear were knitted wool boots with a felt quilted sole and truncated toe; the ornament used is a dark small design on a white field. There were also felt boots, rawhide half-boots, chuvyak slippers, leather ankle boots as well as a step-in footwear with a wooden sole and a leather top. The costume was decorated with a leather belt with silver plates on which on the right a handgun and a silver box with interior fat to grease hands were hanging, and on the left, a dagger. On the right thumb a silver signet ring was worn, on the wrist both men and women unfailingly wore a black felt bracelet. Men shaved their heads clean, grew mustaches, married men grew small beards. One of the main elements of the women’s costume was a tunic-style shirt dress with lateral wedges, straight set-in sleeves without gores and an opening cut on the breast. Since the end of the 19th century, young married women wore a yoke dress, and unmarried women wore a cutoff dress, gathered or pleated. For all types of dress, a red three-meter sash belted twice was obligatory (it is even now in use among old women); its ends fell in front or on the side. In winter, they wore sheepskin coats. The second main element of women’s clothes were the trousers, straight and very wide due to a square wedge in the upper part. The trousers were tightened on the hips with a narrow string belt knitted from woolen thread; the ends of the string belt were decorated with tassels. The hems of the trousers were always decorated with rough silk of green, red and black color. In the warm season, trousers were worn over boots, and in winter they were tucked into boots. As headgear, two types of chukhtu and the headscarf were worn. The first type of chukhtu was the bonnet made from bright sole-colored fabric with gathers on the forehead and a leather ledge on the top of the head to hold temple rings in the form of spiral from silver wire. The lengthened part on the back was not sewn but hung like a veil. Among the young women, since the 19th century a hair pouch chukhtu was widespread with a bonnet from dark fabric decorated on the lower edge with a wide red stripe. Over chukhtu, they wore a square headscarf (4x4 m) from wool (later from coarse calico). Female footwear differed from male one only by decorations and the length of bootlegs. In the end of the 19th century, morocco boots with a trapezoid low heel became widespread. The bottom of the bootleg was decorated with colored silk stitch. The toe and the heel were decorated with silver coins. Girls’ hair was braided into several braids, young unmarried women wore their hair in two braids, adult women often shaved their hair on the back of their head, and old women left only the forelock. The women’s decorations were silver coins (used to sew on the collar, hem and sleeves of the dress) and the titino plastron. They also wore plate-like necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, wooden, coral and amber beads.
Food
The food was flour- and meat- and dairy-based: the main dishes are a disc-shaped khinkal of 10-12 cm in diameter, unleavened chureks, lumps of thick gud dough from roasted oatmeal flour, cake bread, milk, meat and greenery soups, pies with curd, greenery, meat, etc., kurze dumplings with similar fillings. Thick compotes from forest fruit and berries, herb infusions and cereal malty drinks were widespread.
