DAGHESTAN HISTORICAL CHRONICLE «TARIH ABU MUSLIM» (MISKINDZHA LIST): TRANSLATION FROM THE ARABIC LANGUAGE, COMMENTS

Abstract

The article introduces the content of recently revealed Arabic manuscript list from the anonymous medieval Daghestan historical chronicle «Tarih Abu Muslim» («History of Abu Muslim») into scientific circulation for the first time. The list, unknown before, is found in the Lezgin village Miskindzha (Dokuzparinsky district of Daghestan) and dates back to A.H. 1262 (13.12.1845 - 19.12.1846). This fact makes it the oldest dated work preserved till our days. Presumably, the manuscript was rewritten in one of the Lezgin villages in the territory of the modern South Daghestan. Among the most important themes of the chronicle «Tarih Abu Muslim» are the military activity of Abu Muslim in order to impose Islam in Daghestan and Shirvan; construction of mosques in different villages by Abu Muslim and his sons and designation of local governors. The list of Abu Muslim’s descendants and distribution of settlements between them is of particular interest. The study of Miskindzha list (list I) shows that its content overall corresponds to the published text of the composition (list A) in a slightly concise form. Moreover, there are some significant differences. The article specifies some toponymical terms, and identifies the names of some settlements in the territories of the modern South Daghestan and Northeast Azerbaijan Republic. It should be noted that practically all toponymical nomenclature of the Miskindzha list lies in the territory of the historical settlement of the Lezgins and other peoples of the Lezgin group. The latter gives us the reason to assume that the medieval work «Tarih Abu Muslim» was created by one of the natives from settlements of historical Lezgistan (Lakz of early medieval age). The translation of the Arabic text is provided with scientific commentary. When commenting on the text of the list, we involved new data of Arabic epigraphic monuments of medieval Daghestan from the 13th to the 15th centuries, which confirms the authenticity of some chronicle information.