Dagestan Arabic-Language Epistolary Materials of the 19th — Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

The article deals with the Arabic-language epistolary documents of Dagestan origin, dating back to the late 19th — early 20th centuries. The relevance of this study is due to the need to enter into scientific circulation epistolary material from the Fund of Oriental Manuscripts of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is noted that the introduction of these materials into scientific circulation will allow them to be used as sources of factual information, which can significantly supplement or clarify the facts already known to a specialist historian dealing with a particular problem. An overview of some Arabic-language epistolary documents of Dagestan origin is presented, their thematic characteristics are given, individual excerpts of letters from Arabic into Russian are translated, and the features of these documents are described in a historical context. Particular attention is paid to sources, as a storehouse of valuable information on the study of the socio-economic and political life of the Dagestan society. It is shown that the epistolary heritage allows one to reconstruct and interpret the history of everyday life, personal relationships in society and clarify certain aspects of the life of Dagestan society in the 19th — early 20th centuries.