Многоженство в семейно-брачной сфере народов Дагестана: историко-социологический анализ

Abstract

Introduction. In modern Dagestani society, the topic of institution of polygamy is relevant today. It is known from historical materials that polygamy was characteristic of wealthy people, feudal lords married in order to expand their political system and gain support among people. Theoretical justification. The institution of polygamy was actively discussed in Dagestani ethnographic science. Researchers concluded that in previous historical periods polygamy was widespread among wealthy part of society, but its scale was slight. The Muslim revival has made certain adjustments to family and marriage sphere of the followers of Islam, and at present time the institution of polygamy has occupied its niche in the family sphere. Methods. A mass sociological survey to study the attitude of the Dagestan population to the institution of polygamy was conducted in cities (Derbent, Makhachkala, Khasavyurt) and districts (Botlikhsky, Derbentsky, Kazbekovsky, Kizlyarsky, Kizilyurtovsky, Levashinsky) of the Republic of Dagestan. The research was conducted in 2021, taking into account the geographical and socio-demographic parameters of the republic. N=507. Results and its discussion. Polygamy was not widespread in pre-revolutionary Dagestani society; moreover, Dagestani rulers did not practice polygamy so often. Basic provisions. – surveyed population explains the motivation of a woman to marry an unfree man by her desire to have a child in a marriage union, which is legal from the point of view of the Muslim rule, although the desire to improve the material condition is not less important; – comparison of a number of questions among themselves shows that the position of the interviewed women changes radically with personal family experience, when a man, as a rule, without informing his first family, decides to have “second wife”. With such an act of their spouses, the interviewed women are ready to divorce, characterizing husbands’ behavior as “betrayal”; – analysis of the empirical material revealed inconsistency in positions of the female part, which, on the one hand, justifies the institution of polygamy, but on the other hand, is not ready to accept existence of “second wife and second family” in parallel.