Ethnic Problems in Russia

Haplotype frequencies and allele distributions at 11 STR loci of the Y chromosome were evaluated in 180 unrelated individuals from Russian population of Southern Federal district of the Russian Federation (Rostov oblast, Krasnodar krai, and Stavropol krai). Among 153 Y-chromosomal haplotypes discovered, 63 were unique. In the sample of Russian population, the most frequent haplotype (frequency of 5.56%) was 16-11,14-13-30-25-11-11-13-14-11-10 (for the loci DYS19, DYS385a,b, DYS3891, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, and DYS439, respectively). Despite the high diversity of Y-chromosomal haplotypes in the Russian populations from the south of Russia (the h value was 0.997, 0.995, and 0.994 in Rostov, Krasnodar, and Stavropol samples, respectively), analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed the absence of differentiation between the populations (phiQST = 0.1%, P=0.36). Comparative differentiation analysis performed for 13 Russian populations from the European part of Russia pointed to low among-population differentiation in Y-chromosomal lineages (phiST = 0.52%, P=0.03).

Data on assessment of biological efficiency of insectoacaricides based on Abamectin and Emamectin benzoate, metabolites of soil actinomyces, for farm crop protection systems against pests are presented. Efficiency of new products not yet included in the Federal Catalogue of Pesticides was studied. These were Mekar (ME, 18 g/L of abamectin) against the apple sucker (Psylla mali Schmid.) in Orel and Tambov oblasts and Krasnodar krai, against mites in apple trees in Rostov, Tambov, and Orel oblasts, and Yunona (ME, 50 g/L of emamectin benzoate) against codling moth in Rostov oblast and Krasnodar krai. The trials conducted on assessment of effects of new local products created on the basis of actinomyces metabolites confirmed a high biological efficiency in the regulation of the pest of apple trees. Mekar (ME, 18 g/L) and Yunona (ME, 50 g/L) may be recommended for the control of pest apple trees in biologized and adaptively integrated plant protection systems after their registration in Russia.

IntroductionChechnya and Dagestan are two key autonomous republics in the North Caucasus. These two republics have the largest populations among the autonomous republics in the region, and have a strong tradition of (political) Islam and extensive experience with religion-driven insurgency flavored by separatist overtones that has been underway in the area since the beginning of the previous decade. Occupying a strategic location on the southernmost frontier of the Russian Federation and bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan, two independent nations of the post-Soviet South Caucasus, the developments in these neighboring autonomous republics have been regarded as crucial for the prospects of the Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus. Should the self-proclaimed Caucasus Emirate, the leading group of the Islamist insurgency in the region, establish a firm presence in Chechnya and Dagestan, the chances of the federal authorities to successfully address the ongoing political violence in its southern provinces would decrease dramatically. This would pave the way for a considerable deterioration of the security situation in the whole of the North Caucasus, with possible repercussions in Russia's other regions with significant Muslim populations.In mid-March 2012, a massive redeployment of military personnel from Chechnya to Dagestan took place. According to unofficial sources from Dagestan, between 2025,000 troops from Chechnya (primarily troops belonging to the Ministry of Interior) were moved to the neighboring republic.1 A military column including large numbers of armored fighting vehicles set out from Khankala, a military base east of Grozny, to the Karabudakhkent district of Dagestan on the outskirts of the capital city of Makhachkala. Vyacheslav Makhmudov, a spokesman for Dagestan's regional Interior Ministry, claimed that [w]e are talking about a temporary deployment and coordination to prevent and counter terrorism and extremism across the whole territory of Dagestani President Magomedsalam Magomedov further stated that this addition of troops would enable us to maintain law and order and fight extremism and terrorism more effectively.4 Rationalized by the authorities as another means of improving the deteriorating situation in the Caspian republic, this move has caused serious concern both within and outside of Dagestan. The number of troops recently redeployed to Dagestan is staggeringly high, leading to concern over whether Russia's intentions in this area may go beyond a mere attempt to stabilize Dagestan.5 There is further concern over the ethnic composition of the troops.6Broadly speaking, this article is an attempt to reveal the potential of ChechenDagestani conflict, the likelihood of which has increased recently due to the redeployment of Chechen (and Chechnya-based) troops from Chechnya to Dagestan. In particular, we seek to discern the significance of the redeployment of these troops to Dagestan. We shall initially provide some background for Chechen-Dagestani tensions in the region, the growth of the Islamist insurgency in Dagestan, and the instigation and expansion of Kadyrovization in the scope of the fight against the insurgency. We shall then introduce some possible rationales behind Moscow's troop redeployment to Dagestan as well as address some of the likely implications, both locally and regionally. Our aim shall be achieved by analyzing the motivations and repercussions of this decision.BackgroundChechen-Dagestani Tensions: A Brief HistoryApart from the traditional sense of rivalry and competitiveness, the peoples of the Caucasus, Chechens and Dagestanis - who are close to each other in both their shared culture and their history of fierce anti-colonial resistance dating back to the end of the eighteenth century - have faced incidents of conflict in the near past. The story began in 1944, when the Chechens, accused by the NKVD (Stalin's internal security agency) of collaboration with Nazi Germany, were deported en masse to Central Asia, and the politico-administrative map of the autonomous republic of Chechen-Ingushetia was redrawn, with some of its eastern territories permanently rendered to Dagestan. …

The Emerging Muslim States of Central Asia and the Caucasus, Mohiaddin Mesbahi. Part 1 Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus - Ethnicity and Islam: The Ethnohistorical Dynamics of Muslim Societies Within Russia and the CIS, Sergei A. Panarin The Emerging Central Asia - Ethnic and Religious Factions, Eden Naby Muslim Central Asia - Soviet Development Legacies and Future Challenges, M. Nazif Shahrani. Part 2 The New Muslim States - The North Caucasus and Azerbaijan: The Internal Muslim Factor in the Politics of Russia - Tatarstan and the North Caucasus, Marie Bennigsen Broxup Azerbaijan, Yuri N. Zinin and Alexei V. Maleshenko. Part 3 The New Muslim States - Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Martha Brill Olcott Uzbekistan, Zahid I. Munavvarov Kyrgyzstan, Alexander O. Filonyk Tadjikistan, Aziz Niyazi Turkmenistan, Andrei G. Nedvetsky. Part 4 Russia and the Former Soviet South - The New Geopolitics: The Disintegration of the Soviet Eurasian Empire - an Ongoing Debate, Milan L. Hauner Great Power Ideology and the Muslim Nations of the CIS, Arthur Sagdeev Central Asia and the Middle East - the Emerging Links, Anthony Hyman Russia and the Geopolitics of the Muslim South, Mohiaddin Mesbahi.

This article considers ways of shaping all-Russian patriotism among multi-ethnic youth of the North Caucasus and the role of historical memory of the Great Patriotic War in this process. The relevance of the topic is determined by the tasks of stabilising the socio-political situation in Russia in the context of the aggravated crisis of international relations and increasing geopolitical threats. After the Russian Spring and the incorporation of Crimea in 2014, the problem of patriotism has acquired great importance in this subject field. The practice of socio-political life has highlighted the need for scientific analysis of everything that affects the formation and development of patriotism as an integrating value and the basis for positive identification processes in a multi-ethnic society. No less significant is the task of identifying, scientifically describing and substantiating the value-meaning bases for the formation of patriotism of modern youth. The aim of this article is to identify the value-symbolic significance of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War as a basis for the shaping of all-Russian patriotism among polyethnic youth in the North Caucasus. The empirical basis of the article is the results of the research project ‘Patriotism through the eyes of youth’ implemented in April-May 2024 in the North Caucasus Federal District. In the course of the study, four focus groups were conducted in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania and the Stavropol Territory. The participants of the focus groups were leaders and activists of youth organisations in the respective regions. The research was implemented to determine the specifics of perceptions of patriotism, patriotic activities, patriotic symbols, problems and effective practices of patriotism formation in the youth of the North Caucasian Federal District. The results of this study showed that the respondents' recognition of the importance of patriotism for the development of the North Caucasus, Russia as a whole, and society as a whole contrast with their real knowledge of the issue. At the same time, the memory of the Great Patriotic War, the joint feat of the peoples and the common Victory remains the main unifying symbol that contributes to the shaping of patriotism in the multi-ethnic environment of the peoples of the North Caucasus. The authors define the main problems of patriotism formation in the youth environment of the North Caucasus Federal District and suggest possible ways to overcome them.

Yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst)) is a potentially dangerous disease of wheat. Genetic protection of wheat is an environmentally safe method to control the disease, but its successful application requires information on the structure of regional populations of the pathogen. Virulence and molecular polymorphism were characterized in two Russian Pst populations in 2022. Wheat leaves with Pst urediniopustules were collected from the North Caucasus (Krasnodar Krai, Dagestan, and Kalmykia) and Northwestern Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Virulence was tested on 14 isogenic lines (AvocetNIL) and 15 differentiator cultivars. Polymorphism at 20 microsatellite loci was evaluated in molecular analyses. The SSR markers were as recommended by the Global Rust Reference Center. Virulence was assessed in 74 monopustular isolates, including 29 Dagestan, 10 Krasnodar, 5 Kalmyk, and 30 Northwestern ones. Resistance to all isolates was observed in lines with the genes Yr5, Yr10, Yr15, Yr24, and Yr26 and the cultivars Moro (Yr10, YrMor) and Nord Desprez (Yr3, YrND, Yr+). Isolates virulent to the AvYr17 line were detected for the first time in the Dagestan and Krasnodar populations. Their occurrence was moderate (13%) in the Northwestern population. A significant variation was observed in lines and cultivars with the Yr1 and Yr3 genes. Virulence to Yr7 and YrSp was found to be lower than in 2019 to 2021. In total, 28 phenotypes (races) were determined in the virulence analysis (15 in Dagestan, 11 in the Northwestern region, 3 in Krasnodar, and 2 in Kalmykia). A common phenotype was detected in three North Caucasian Pst samples. Genetic distances between the phenotypes were estimated. Most phenotypes grouped together in a multidimensional diagram, with the exception of three Dagestan phenotypes with the fewest virulence alleles. Based on the Fst index, the Dagestan and Kalmyk Pst collections were high similar to each other and differed moderately from the other collections. Long-term trends in virulence (from 2019 to 2022) were assessed in the Pst populations. A high similarity was observed between all regional population samples in 2019 and 2020. The Northwestern and Dagestan populations slightly differed from the other populations in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, the Krasnodar and Kalmyk populations formed separate groups, which differed from each other and from the main group. The long-term virulence analysis indicated that the structure of Pst populations is highly dynamic in Russia. All North Caucasian isolates and 23 Northwestern isolates were used in the SSR analysis. Six loci (RYN3, RYN9, RYN12, WU6, RJO21, and RJO24) were monomorphic. Three polymorphic alleles were identified in each of the RYN13 and RJO27 loci; two alleles, in each of the remaining loci examined. Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed for most loci. The observed heterozygosity exceeded the expected one, suggesting a clonal origin of the Pst population. Twenty multilocus genotypes (MGs) were found in the total isolate collection (11 in Dagestan, 11 in the Northwestern region, 3 in Krasnodar, and 1 in Kalmykia). Common MGs were detected in the Dagestan, Krasnodar, and Northwestern populations (MG_1); Dagestan, Kalmyk, and Northwestern populations (MG_2); and Dagestan and Krasnodar populations (MG_3 and MG_4). Genetic distances between MGs were estimated. MGs formed four groups in a multidimensional diagram. A major group included 80% of MGs. One Dagestan MG, two Northwestern MGs, and MG_3 common for the Dagestan and Krasnodar collections were significantly differentiated from the major group and differed from each other. Based on Fst, most regional Pst collections were moderately differentiated from each other, with the exception of the Dagestan and Kalmyk collections. The finding was consistent with the virulence analysis results. The Mantel test detected a moderate correlation between the virulence and SSR data (r = 0.6). This indicates that both analyses can be used to assess genetic polymorphism in Pst. The high variability of the virulence and microsatellite loci warrants annual monitoring of regional Pst populations in Russia.

The diversity of monogenic hereditary diseases (HDs) (autosomal dominant (AD), autosomal recessive (AR), and X-linked diseases) has been studied in five districts of Bashkortostan Republic: Burzyanskii, Abzelilovskii, Baimak, Salavatskii, and Arkhangel'skoe raions. The spectrum of HDs comprised 144 diseases, including 83, 48, and 13 Ad, AR, and X-linked diseases. Most of them were found earlier during studies in ten other regions of Russia (Kirov, Kostroma, Tver', Bryansk, and Rostov oblasts, and Krasnodar krai, and the republics of Adygea, Marii El, Udmurtia, and Chuvashia). Foci of local accumulation of some AD, AR, and X-linked diseases have been found in individual districts. Data on the gene frequencies for the HDs have been used for cluster analysis, which has shown the gene geographic position of Bashkirs among nine ethnic populations of Russia: Russians (Kostroma, Kirov, and Rostov oblasts and Krasnodar krai), Chuvashes (Chuvashia), Adygeans (Adygea), Maris (Marii El), Udmurts (Udmurtia), and Bashkirs (Bashkortostan).

Spatial Patterns in the Transformation of the Ethnic Structure of the Russian Population Between the 1959 and 2010 Censuses

Distribution of 13C/12C isotopes in vegetative (roots, grapevine, leaves) and generative (berries) parts of vine plants of the West European genetically different varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Aligote growing on soils of Krasnodar krai and Rostov oblast, as well as autochthonous varieties Sibirkovy and Krasnostop Zolotovsky growing in Rostov oblast, has been studied using isotopic mass spectrometry methods. It has been shown that the variations of δ13C values in plant tissues and berries are related to the climatic conditions of plant growth: moisture (a sum of annual precipitation) and temperature (a sum of annual effective temperatures). The carbon isotope ratios of vegetative and generative parts of vine plants have been found to be noticeably affected by vine varieties. The different 13C contents in ethanol produced from wine of the Aligote and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties grown in two Russian vineyard regions are due to vine growth conditions, variety attribution and wine production techniques. An analytically significant parameter determined as exemplified by the Aligote and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties in fermentation of vine harvested in different seasons and in both vineyard regions was an increased 13C content in ethanol with respect to dry (non-volatile) residue in wine after distillation of ethanol. This characteristic has been determined by a systematic difference of about 1–2‰ between the δ13C value of ethanol and the dry residue. A relative constancy in the carbon isotope composition of ethanol and of the dry residue in the final product is the basis for determining the authenticity of grape wines by means of isotopic mass spectrometry irrespective of natural factors.

Six complete mitochondrial genomes from Early Bronze Age humans in the North Caucasus

Relevance. The peculiarities of the course of the COVID-19 epidemic process in the regions of the world, as a rule, are determined by the epidemic risks characteristic of them. Identification and evaluation of the latter is necessary to improve measures to counter infection in a particular area. Aim. To study the features of the COVID-19 epidemic process in the regions of the North Caucasus, to identify and assess the impact of epidemic risk factors on the epidemic situation. Materials and methods. The data of the Departments of Rospotrebnadzor for the subjects of the North Caucasus, Internet resources: stopkoronavirus were used Russia, Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data project. Statistical processing was carried out using methods of variation statistics and MS Excel software package (2016, USA). Correlation analysis was performed using Spearman's coefficient. Results. As of 01.12.2021, the incidence of COVID-19 in the Caucasus was lower than the Russian average (3890.0 and 65921.8 per 100 thousand population), and the mortality rate was higher (4.8 and 1.9%, respectively). The dynamics of the epidemic process as a whole repeated the situation in the Russian Federation, but with a delay of each phase by 2–3 weeks and had 4 periods of rising morbidity (waves), with the exception of the Stavropol Territory, the Republics of Adygea and Ingushetia, where three waves of morbidity were observed. In the Republics of Dagestan, Chechen and Adygea, a high proportion of community-acquired pneumonia was noted - 58.8, 47.0 and 34.1%, respectively. The mortality rate from a new coronavirus infection was higher than the national average in Dagestan (in the period of the 1st wave – 4.7%), Krasnodar Krai (in the period of the 2nd wave – 5.0%; 3 – 12.6%, in 4 – 9.9%), Karachay-Cherkess Republic (in the 3rd period of the rise – 9.0%) and in Stavropol Krai (in 4 – 7.6%). The lowest mortality from COVID-19 in the 3rd and 4th periods of the rise in morbidity in the North Caucasus was registered in Ingushetia – 2.2 and 2.1%, respectively. The exceptional situation in the Republic of Dagestan is due not only to a large proportion of community acquired pneumonia and high mortality from COVID-19, compared with other regions of the North Caucasus and Russia as a whole, but also to an increase in excess mortality in the republic. The excess of the average annual (over the previous 5 years) number of deaths in the Caucasus in 2020 was +19.8%, in 2021 +32.7%, in the Russian Federation as a whole 14.8 and 31.4%, respectively. Conclusion. The general epidemic risks of COVID-19 for the North Caucasus region have been identified – the level of vaccination, the implementation of non–specific prevention measures, as well as local risks for specific regions: in Dagestan – adherence to local mass ceremonies, as well as insufficient control over the implementation of restrictive measures, in Ingushetia – relatively high population density.

Background. Functional processes in the female organism at the stage of reproductive function failure in menopause attract considerable interest of researchers. The paper presents a study of great medical, biological and social importance into reproductive function failure in women living in the territories with permanent military operations for a long time and, thus, suffering from post-traumatic syndrome, which significantly affects the character of menopause. Objectives. To identify the features of menopausal syndrome in women who have been living under chronic stress (6–8 years) in the zone of ongoing military operations, namely in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, and in women from Rostov Oblast — the region free from active military operations.Methods. An observational cohort study involved 60 women (refugees), long-term residents of the territories with ongoing military operations and 60 long-term residents of the territories without military operations, aged 50–65 years, with clinical manifestations of menopausal syndrome; all women were patients of the Research Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics, Rostov State Medical University. In accordance with the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW+10) classification and clinical manifestations of menopause, two clinical groups (n = 30) were formed from the representatives of each region of residence. Group I included 30 women, aged 50–55, from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, who had late menopausal transition (stage -1 of STRAW+10) and menopausal syndrome. Group II involved 30 postmenopausal patients (stages +1 and +2 of STRAW+10), aged 60–65, with menopausal syndrome. Group 1 enrolled 30 residents of Rostov Oblast, aged 50–55, who had late menopausal transition (stage -1 of STRAW+10) and menopausal syndrome, group 2 included 30 postmenopausal patients (stages +1 and +2 of STRAW+10), aged 60–65, with menopausal syndrome. Modified menopausal index was considered as the main indicator of the study. Statistical data processing was carried out by means of Statistica 10.01 (StatSoft, USA), Microsoft Excel 2010 (Microsoft, USA), IBM SPSS 24.0 (IBM, USA), and MedCalc (MedCalc Software, Belgium).Results. Long-term female residents of the territories with ongoing military operations were reported to develop menopausal syndrome more often. Rostov Oblast female residents in the late menopausal transition revealed a statistically significant prevalence of a mild degree of menopausal syndrome in 63.3 % of cases compared to 36.7 % of a similar severity of menopausal syndrome in residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. Meanwhile, women from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics were indicated with moderate menopausal syndrome in 50.0 % of cases in late menopausal transition and severe syndrome in 33.3 % in postmenopause versus 23.4 % and 10 % of women from Rostov Oblast, respectively. The intensity of neurovegetative and psycho-emotional disorders in women of both regions increases with the aging process of the reproductive system and appears most pronounced in the postmenopausal period.Conclusion. Residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, who live in the war zone and are exposed to constant threat to life, develop post-traumatic syndrome which significantly intensifies and modulates the already existing functional and hormonal restructuring in the brain subsystems during perimenopause. Non-uniform functional shifts at different levels of the central nervous system under conditions of chronic stress lead to a significant change in intracerebral processes and to an increase in the occurrence and severity of various dysfunctional deviations.

Introduction. The mid-to-late nineteenth century witnessed increased endeavors aimed at identifying ancestral lands of Hungarians, their initial habitats and migration routes. To facilitate these, over a dozen research expeditions across Eurasia were undertaken. A most prominent of the latter was the one organized by Count J. Zichy to the Caucasus and Central Asia in 1895. Goals. The article attempts a detailed insight into the expedition to pay closer attention to its previously overlooked aspects. So, the study shall duly seek to recognize certain prerequisites and objectives of the campaign, examine the preparation process, trace the course of the journey proper, specify the role of its leader, and outline some key results. Materials and methods. The analysis involves multiple sources, such as the published expeditionary report, a diary by the expedition member L. Szádecky-Kardoss, documents from the State Archive of Stavropol Krai articulating the Russian Government’s attitude to the travelers, and messages in the then periodicals. Results. The expedition organized by J. Zichy was to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the Hungarians’ arrival in the Middle Danube (1896). So, there were two main objectives. The first one was to obtain historical, archeological and linguistic evidence to confirm J. Zichy’s hypothesis Hungarians had come from the North Caucasus. The second one was to collect materials for an ethnographic section of the anniversary exhibition. The initiator, organizer, leader and sponsor of the journey was Count Jenő Zichy, a Hungarian landowner and politician. The expedition was attended by six more individuals, including linguist Gábor Bálint, archeologist Mόr Wosinsky, and historian Lajos Szádecky-Kardoss. From April to August of 1895, they moved through the whole North Caucasus — from Kuban to Dagestan, crossed over Transcaucasia (Georgia and Azerbaijan), voyaged to Central Asia (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). The Hungarian researchers used comprehensive methods of research: they would collect and investigate historical messages, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, linguistic and ethnographic data. On the way back they visited Moscow and St. Petersburg to explore libraries and archives, and J. Zichy was granted an audience with Emperor Nicholas II. Conclusions. J. Zichy and his companions did gather a large amount of interesting materials and compiled archaeological and ethnographic collections. However, the rapid movement and ban on any archaeological excavations made the latter fragmentary and incomplete enough. So, J. Zichy would organize two more expeditions in years to come, the latter’s routes to partially coincide with that of the first one. Still, he was never able to find evidence supporting his hypothesis about the Caucasian ancestral homeland of Hungarians. Despite this, the materials and collections gathered would by themselves pose a most valuable contribution to science.

REVIEWS 747 of a well-organized delegation from Belorussia which secured the Jews' inclusionaftera formalpresentationbefore the Senate. This is an outstanding piece of social history and a major contribution to our understanding of the relations of Jews with the local and national authoritiesin post-partitionEasternEurope. Research librariesshould make an effortto securea copy before it becomes a bibliographicalrarity. Department ofHebrew andJ7ewish Studies J. D. KLIER University College London Zelkina,Anna. InQuestfor GodandFreedom. TheSufi Response totheRussian Advance intheNorthCaucasus. C. Hurst&Company, London, 2000. XXiii + 265 pp. Notes. Maps. Illustrations.Glossary.Bibliography.Index. ?45.??. IN a world galvanized into discussionof Muslim responsesto the challenge of theWest, thisnew historyof Islamicresponsesto the Russianadvance into the North Caucasus could not be more timely. Anna Zelkina examines the religiousrevivalin what is present-dayDagestan and Chechnya, beginning in the late eighteenth centuryand culminatingin the defeatof the 'thirdimam of the Caucasus', Shamil, in I859. Her focus is the remarkablerise of the Sufi Naqshbandiyya order (tariqa),and its impact not only on anti-colonial resistance,but more significantly,on patternsof social and political organization in the region. Hitherto this topic has been researchedmainly in terms of the militaryhistoryof the Russian conquest, as a purely anti-colonial struggle or, in Soviet historiography, through an ideologically skewed view of 'fundamentalism'.Zelkinabrings a new perspectiveto this period in focusing on the religious and social aspects of the Naqshbandi movement, thereby redressing the past denial of a wider Islamic dimension to the Naqshbandi phenomenon. To do so, she draws upon on a wide range of primary sources in both Russianand Arabic, includinghithertountranslatedwritingsof North CaucasianNaqshbandi sheikhs. Zelkinatracesthe development of the Naqshbandiyyaorderfrom Iran and Central Asia, through permutations first in Moghul India and later in Ottoman lands in the eighteenth century. She argues that by adapting Naqshbandi principles to local political prerogatives, Naqshbandi sheikhs increasingly emphasized the legal (/iqh)as well as spiritualaspects of shari?a, and the principle of 'solitudewithin the crowd', implying a more active role for Naqshbandi adepts in social and political matters. This established the Naqshbandi order as a powerful potential force for social and political mobilization. The north-easternCaucasus,home to a long-standingtradition of Islam, proved fertile ground for this increasinglypolitical and revisionist viewv of Muslim priorities. Confronted with military and technological superiority in the form of the Russian Empire, communities in the north Caucasus were faced with an urgent crisis of moral, social and political decline. Zelkina's key and highly plausible thesis is that the Naqshbandi order provided the ideology and organizational structure necessary for a coherent response to the Russian challenge. Over time, the initially separate mystical 748 SEER, 8o, 4, 2002 and political aspects of Naqshbandi merged, and a pattern of political leadershiplegitimatedby spiritualauthorityemerged, supplantingtraditional secular leadership. The first Naqshbandi leader to effectively combine both aspects was Ghazi Muhammad (?I793-i832), who declared ghazavat('holy war') as key to the establishmentof shari"a. Pursuitof this goal culminated in the creation of the firststateformationamongstthe North Caucasianpeoples, Shamil'simamate. The Naqshbandi movement representsthe firstattemptat modernization in the North Caucasus, introducing recognizably modern formsof political leadership, social contract and collective identity.As such it stands as the neplus ultraof indigenous, as opposed to Russian- or Sovietimposed modernization in the region. The chapters on the imamate provide an overdue focus on Shamil's administrative, fiscal, military and religious reforms. The account presented here provides a fascinating basis for comparison with more recent events. As the word play in the book's title suggests, the Naqshbandi search for responses to external challenges took the form of an introspectiveinquest,ajudicial enquiryinto the currentmoraland socialstate of Muslim communities. Initial targets for Naqshbandi activists were the recognized Muslim authorities advocating a more conciliatory relationship with the Russians. Ghazavat was therefore a bi-focal phenomenon, aimed at both the establishedMuslimauthorities,lambastedascorrupting'trueMuslim values', and the Russian menace. The radical orthodoxy of the Naqshbandi engendered a dual debate, on one frontbetween Muslims as to the formsthat a modern Islam should take, and on the other with the non-Muslim world. The extraordinary success of the Naqshbandiyya reflects the capacity of radical orthodoxy, reliant on other-worldly values, to feed an ideology of resistanceto challengesfirmlyrooted in thisworld. Adapted from a PhD thesis, this lucid, well-written account presents...

The land reforms of the 1990s in the former Soviet republics led to the elimination of the state’s monopoly on the ownership of land, a revival in local communities and a rise in business activity. The consequences of these reforms include the almost total disappearance of collective farms and the emergence of the private ownership of land. In the 1990s, the state delegated political power, including the disposability of land, to local authorities. However, these changes in political power varied significantly from region to region. This article aims to explain the various institutional environments that have developed at the local level in reaction to land reforms. Our investigation of 18 key villages in the North Caucasus republics of Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan show that land reforms have galvanised multiple actors representing the state, as well as collectives, individuals and various formal and informal institutions that regulate relations between these actors. Along with the political factors – such as the level of centralisation and economic liberalisation – that have led to differences in the pace of land reforms, local natural and cultural conditions and communities play an important role. The latter are characterised either by conservatism or by readiness for reforms. Regarding the key villages, five different types were identified: 1) villages where most of the land has been redistributed among private owners (Karachay-Cherkessia); 2) villages that have preserved collective use (some settlements in the North Caucasus with mainly Russian population); 3) villages where access to land is regulated by the state (Chechnya); 4) villages where access to land is regulated by municipal bureaucracy at the district level (many other regions in the North Caucasus); and 5) villages where the right of access to land is in dispute between the government and the business and local communities (e.g. villages in the tourist areas of the North Caucasus).