CHRONICLE OF THE ALIMCHULAL TUKHUM (PATRONYMY) – A SOURCE ON GENEALOGY AND THE HISTORY OF DAGHESTAN INTELLECTUAL ELITE

Abstract

The article, based on data from written sources, examines the genealogy of the Alimchulal patronymy (tukhum). Since the XIII and to the end of the XIX century, this dynasty of Muslim ulama-scientists played a significant role in the spir-itual and intellectual life of Khunzakh, the capital of the Sarir kingdom, and later the Avar Nutsaldom. The main source is a short of the Avar-language historical essay. This family chronicle was written in 1966 by a representative of Al-imchulal tukhum. The data of the chronicle are verified by the information from the colophons of a number of manu-scripts, copied in the XVI–XIX centuries by representatives of this tukhum. It certainly has some errors and inconsist-encies. However the genealogy presented in this work has a real historical basis. Here presented are the translitera-tion and the Russian translation of the work. It also contains the genealogy of the Avar Nutsals. The data devoted to details of the spread of Islam in Khunzakh have considerable interest. The article also contains information from the manuscripts of the XVI–XIX centuries, which are stored in the Alimchulal collection and other manuscript sources. Obviously, the ancestor of the Alimchulal tukhum was a Christian “alim” (head of the Christian church of Sarir?) in the XIII century. Subsequently, he converted to Islam and contributed to the spread of Islam in the Khunzakh region. His descendants became famous alims, for several centuries being the qadis of Khunzakh and the Avar Nutsaldom.