DERBENT IN CULTURAL AND CIVILIZATION SPACE OF THE MIDDLE AGES: FEATURES AND PECULIARITIES

Abstract

The article covers the place and role of Derbent in the cultural and civilization space of the Medieval Caucasus. Basing on written sources, the author highlights important features and peculiarities of the town situated at the ‘eternal crossing’, its polyethnic nature was the main structure-forming factor and the cultural environment was a kind of symbiosis based on centuries of interaction of traditions of historically developed ethnic, confessional and social groups of townspeople. A certain negative balance in the historical and cultural process of Medieval Derbent was accounted for the slave trade. Traditionally being one of the transit centers of the slave trade in the Eastern Caucasus, in the 11th-13th centuries Derbent acquired the status of the most well-known and active slave trade market. During the process of Islamization, Dagestan people found themselves under direct influence of the Arab-Muslim civilization. Together with the religion, the rich scientific literature and fiction of the peoples of the Middle East came here and had an entirely fruitful influence on the development of spiritual life of the region. Representatives of the Muslim elite of Derbent were recognized authorities in the field of hadith science and Muslim law. Medieval Derbent was not only a religious but also a major center of spiritual culture, a kind of intellectual base and foundation of the local Muslim spiritual elite. The Arabic language and writing were critical for the formation of the local culture and science. In the comparative historical aspect, the development of Medieval Derbent had a strongly-pronounced specific character conditioned, first of all, by the centuries-old history of the town, which created unique conditions for the formation of the ethno-confessional composition of the town’s population, for the development of economic and social life. As polyethnicity was the main structure-forming factor in Derbent, it should be considered as a specific model of stable long-term interethnic interaction. For many centuries, Derbent was a well-known center of large-scale transit trade in the Eastern Caucasus. Realizing the natural needs of peoples for the exchange of goods, trade was a powerful factor of creation because it stimulated the development of crafts, science, art, development of new territories, and construction of towns. Trade was also an important factor of peace as it required political stability. At the same time, trade was a factor of dialogue culture, the culture of civilized communication, respect for customs and faith of partners in trade. An important feature of Derbent was its unique socio-cultural function: it was the center of not only economic, but also considerable cultural attraction.