Dagestan Society Research Articles

Общественно-политические установки молодого поколения дагестанцев: через призму исламского вероучения (по результатам социологического опроса)

At the initial stage of the religious revival, the activity of confessional institutions was somewhat passive, but now it is being intensified, which is expressed in the expansion of the space of influence of religious figures, the orientation of the population to simultaneously receive religious and secular education, and the introduction of a large layer of the population with religious knowledge. The article puts forward the hypothesis about the increasing role of traditional faiths and religious institutions in the social processes of modern Russian society. Consequently, the study of the religious component, in this context of the Islamic factor, from the standpoint of forecasting and assessing its role in modern Dagestan society, acquires special significance, because it will allow us to outline the trajectory of development of state-confessional relations, develop effective religious policies and provisions that do not violate the secular nature of the state devices of Russia. The perception and assessment of Islamic teachings in the socio-political life of the republic by the younger generation of Dagestanis is analyzed. The analysis shows the dominance in the mass consciousness of Dagestan youth that the position on the state structure is based on Islamic teachings; the author assumes that the younger generation lacks the understanding of the essence and specifics of government based on Muslim postulates. The surveyed Dagestan youth are consistent in their positions and in resolving controversial issues in a variety of social spheres (economic activity, land dispute between owners, family conflict, domestic violence, etc.), according to the Sharia court, which has acquired greater authority in everyday life population of Dagestan. In the mass consciousness of the younger generation of the republic, there is a priority of Muslim teaching and the designation of its special status, which is a destructive phenomenon, because it can create religious intolerance and destabilize Dagestan society. The younger generation of Dagestanis associates the function of religious teaching in public life with the dissemination of the fundamentals of religion and religious morality, spiritual and moral education and charity.

Religious and political consolidation in Southern Dagestan in 2010-2020: the inclusion of local communities in the general Dagestan Muslim space

This article analyzes a little-studied aspect of the consolidation of Dagestan society in 2010-2020: how the process of religious and political unification took place in Southern Dagestan. The paper traces the process of alternation of political and administrative-coercive methods in the unification of local Islamic communities in the region. The author proves that the murder of Sheikh Sirazhudin Khuriksky, who had maintained the religious independence of Southern Dagestan since the 1990s, was a turning point in the process of eliminating the religious autonomy of this sub-region. These changes coincided with the coming to the post of the head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov, who actively interfered in local politics. The Dagestan Muftiate took advantage of this situation to extend its influence to Southern Dagestan. The described processes led to the consolidation of political power in the republic and the unification of the Muslim space. The former fragmentation and complication of religious and political life have been stopped. Because they threatened the emergence of uncontrolled processes associated with the radicalization of Dagestan Muslim society.

«Вторая жена» в Дагестане: мотивация брачного поведения и социальное самочувствие

Introduction. The article raises the problem of polygamy, which is relevant for the Dagestan society, as a family and marriage practice, revived in the post-Soviet period of Russian statehood. This practice is negatively perceived by the majority of the population of the republic, despite the fact that it is not becoming less common. The attempt to answer the question of what this is connected with determined the main goal of this work - to reveal the opinion of the “second wives” themselves about the reasons for entering into Muslim marriage with a man already connected by family ties, and also to assess their social well-being in the context of the situation that has developed for them. Aspects of society of negative attitudes and problems that they have to face as a result of the chosen strategy of marital behavior. Methods. The article uses the results of the author's sociological surveys: a mass survey conducted in 2021 in the Republic of Dagestan (N=507) on a representative sample (taking into account such social characteristics of respondents as age, education, place of residence, attitude to religion, income level, social status), as well as a semi-structured interview among Dagestan women who are in the status of "second wife" (N=29). Results of research and its discussion. According to the results of the study, it was found that the women surveyed argued their decision to start a family with a married man by the desire to have a child in a legal, from the point of view of Islam, marriage union. The motivation for entering into a Muslim marriage in the status of a “second wife” is also a feeling of love, as well as the conviction of the legality of such a marriage and its equivalence with a marriage formalized according to secular traditions. The results of the interview testify to the perception of their social status by “second wives” that is adequate to the realities, which is determined by the negative attitude towards polygamy in Dagestan society and the low responsibility of Muslim husbands, who often do not follow the norms of Islamic ethics regarding family life in the format of polygamy. Many of the respondents would not dare to take this step again if there was an opportunity to return to the past. The subject of frustration is the difficulty resulting from the inability or unwillingness of Muslim husbands to equally distribute financial and emotional resources equally between wives and children in both families. In view of this, the problem of infringement of the rights of "second wives", their children and, in general, polygamy is being actively discussed in the socio-political and scientific circles of Dagestan society.

LEGAL DISCOURSE OF DAGESTANI THEOLOGIANS OF THE 17TH-19TH CENTURIES (BASED ON THE MANUSCRIPT FROM THE BAGUZHALAV AL-MACHADI’S COLLECTION)

The paper presents an analysis of a unique manuscript identified in the book collection of a prominent Dagestani theologian Baguzhalav al-Machadi. It comprises 9 works compiled in the form of questions and answers, which reflect the theological discourse on various legal aspects. The discussion was attended by such reputed theologians as Dawud al-Usishi, Sheikh Izz ad-Din Tayyib, Said al-Makki, Muhammad-haji al-Uradi, Muhammad al-Aliji, Sheikh as-Sijini, Hadith al-Machadi, Muhammad al-Hifnawi and Muhammad al-Aymaki. Some of them were Dagestanis, while others – of the Middle East origin. Their works are written in a form of answers of a number of Middle Eastern theologians to the questions of Dagestanis on various topical issues of that time. The works were compiled in the second half of the 17th – first quarter of the 19th centuries, which allows to trace to a certain extent the development of the legal tradition of Dagestan of that period. They are also a valuable source on the history of everyday life, economic and socio-political development of Dagestan society. The range of questions and answers considered in the theological discourse is extremely diverse, and concerns the various aspects of everyday life. As we believe, Dagestani theologians, turning to their more authoritative compatriots, as well as to scholars from the Middle East, sought to legitimize adat norms through Sharia texts. At the same time, addressing the latter, Dagestani theologians sought to use the unspoken priority in favor of their opinion that existed in the Muslim world. Moreover, the identified Arabic-language sources clearly demonstrate how closely Dagestan was included in the unified legal field of the Arab-Muslim world.

Памяти профессора С.Ш. Муслимова: к 85-летию со дня рождения дагестанского исламоведа

The article is dedicated to the memory of one of the outstanding Dagestani Islamic scholars Salih Shabanovich Muslimov, who passed away in 2022, and who was supposed to turn 85 this year. Some less-known facts from his biography are presented, his active stand in life, public ac-tivities, in-depth knowledge of Islamic issues and of the religious and political situation in the Re-public of Dagestan are noted. Among his achievements are the work of the Dagestani branch of the Russian Humanist Society, of which he was chairman, the publication of Voice of Reason, the first philosophical journal in the republic, his impeccable work as an academic secretary of the disserta-tion council on philosophical sciences at DSU, and a member of the editorial board of the academic journal “Islamic Studies”, etc. In his numerous academic works, of which there are more than 300, he repeatedly raised the most acute and urgent problems of Dagestan and Russia as a whole. In his research, he warned of some disturbing trends in Dagestan society. At the same time, he managed to maintain, including on the pages of the press, his research correctness and political equidistance with respect to all parties to the conflict.

ЯЗЫКОВЫЕ УСТАНОВКИ ГОРОДСКОГО НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ДАГЕСТАНА

The national (native) language is a key identifier of ethnic self-identification and its state to a certain extent determines the state of the interethnic sphere: infringement of the national language is usually accompanied by a deterioration of the interethnic climate, the formation of the principles of intolerance, hostility and aggression in the public consciousness. In this regard, the study of linguistic behavior seems to be an urgent task against the background of the ongoing complex and contradictory ethno-linguistic processes in modern Russian society. The aim of the study is to identify the factors influencing the language behavior of the urban population of Dagestan. Based on the results of an empirical study, it is concluded that the Russian language prevails as the language of interethnic communication in all social spheres of modern Dagestan society. This circumstance is quite natural, for Dagestan is a multilingual region, in which there is an objective need for the language of interethnic communication. While the importance of the Russian language is high, there is a decrease in the weight of the national languages of the peoples of Dagestan, moreover, printed publications in Russian (books, magazines, newspapers, electronic resource), as well as social networks are the main source of information for the surveyed urban population of the republic. Verification of the survey results shows that many factors have a destructive effect on linguistic processes, including the processes of urbanization and modernization leveling the ethnocultural specifics, the absence of the Law "On the languages of the peoples of Dagestan", naturally contributing to the transformation of linguistic consciousness and the resulting linguistic behavior of the urban population of the republic.

DAGESTAN REGION IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND POLITICAL CULTURE OF DAGESTANIANS

The article is devoted to the study of such a social phenomenon as the "political culture" of the Dagestanis during the existence of the Dagestan region. The use of systemic, historical-comparative, and historical-typological, anthropological methods contributes to a more adequate reflection of historical processes and phenomena, allows us to understand the mechanism of social changes.The phenomenon of political culture is due to its dual nature, on the one hand, it belongs to the sphere of politics, and its "life cycle" is tied to the period of existence of the political system, on the other, to the sphere of culture as a value-normative system that goes beyond its limits. The type of political culture is formed in the process of developing the socio-economic and general cultural context of each particular country. In this regard, we set ourselves the task of showing how the traditions and dynamics of the development of Dagestan society have reflected on the political culture of the Dagestanis, understood as a value-normative system, which includes basic beliefs, attitudes, orientations, symbols directed to the political system.The authors analyzed the historical and social experience underlying the political orientations and political behavior of ethnic communities united after the end of the Caucasian War within the framework of the Dagestan region of the Russian Empire. We came to the conclusion that if at the time of the creation of the region the political systems and political culture of the peoples of Dagestan were heterogeneous, and the differentiation was of a territorial nature, then by the time the autocracy fell, we can speak of a single socio-political community - the Dagestanis and the aggregation of political values ​​and attitudes took place no longer geographically, but ideologically. And the October Revolution led to the need to choose one of the alternatives.

Polygamy in the family and marital sphere of the modern Dagestan society

Polygamy as a form of family and marital relations, corresponding to Muslim ethics, not only becomes widespread in Dagestan society, but also causes conflicting assessments in the mass consciousness of the inhabitants of the Republic. These assessments have a pronounced gender connotation. In the mass consciousness of the female part of the Dagestan society, this phenomenon is more identified as a negative phenomenon, in contrast to that of the male part of the population. In this regard, the article aims to identify the factors that give rise to polygamous strategies in the family and marital behavior of Dagestan men, as well as various evaluative positions of such marital behavior on the part of the Dagestan population. In this perspective, the practice of polygamy in Dagestan has not yet been the subject of scientific analysis, which determines the innovative nature of the results obtained in the course of the author's empirical study. Based on the results of the author's sociological survey conducted in 2021, a key conclusion was made that a man's right to polygamous marital behavior, actualized in the context of the religious (Muslim) revival in the Dagestan society, diverges from traditional ideas about the family and marital relations among Dagestan women. They, for the most part, regardless of the degree of religiosity, show a negative attitude towards the practice of polygamy. The reason for such an imbalance in attitudes towards polygamy in Dagestan is the nature of this revived family and marital practice, inadequate to modern realities, which has lost its functional content, motivational grounds and behavioral ethics

TOMBSTONES WITH CHRONOGRAPHS
 
 FROM THE DAGESTAN VILLAGES OF SHINAZ AND GELHEN

The paper presents the results of the study of two Arabic language epigraphic monuments from the mountain villages of Shinaz and Gelhen. The unique nature of these well-studied tombstones lies in the fact that, apart from epitaphs, there are chronographs of historic events that took place in South Dagestan and neighbouring Shirvan in the 15th-early 18th centuries carved on them. We suggest a new reading of the Arabic texts on tombstones, as well as corrections in reading the historical chronographs. It has been revealed that the owner of the epitaph of the Shinaz stele of 1798–99 is a famous Dagestan researcher of the 18th century Isma‘il al-Shinazi. The previously unknown time of his life has also been reliably determined. An alternative dating of a similar stele from Gelhen, located on the grave of a representative of the hereditary spiritual elite of this village, ‘Abdurahman-effendi, son of malla Ibrahim, is proposed. The stele was made in 1848–49, exactly half a century after the Shinaz one. We came to conclusion that the source for the chronographs of both steles was not the chronograph created in 1710–12, as was previously believed. The direct source was the handwritten historical chronograph of Malij al-Rutuli from 1754–55. It is believed that the manuscript with the chronograph Malij al-Rutuli belonged to the scholar Sa‘id al-Shinazi, the son of Isma‘il al-Shinazi. It seems that Sa‘id al-Shinazi was the compiler of the entire text of the Shinaz stele on his father’s grave. It has been established that the texts of both steles contain excerpts from medieval Arabic poetry. The authors of these verses are the Caliph ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 661) and the famous mystic of the ‘Abbasid era, Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922). Al-Hallaj’s poems were first recorded in the epigraphy of Dagestan. The South Dagestan’s practice of including historical chronographs in the texts of tombstones, despite its rarity, undoubtedly testifies to the interest that representatives of the intellectual elite of Dagestan society showed to the study of history. The thesis of the close connection of epigraphic monuments of Dagestan with narrative texts has also been confirmed.

Общественное мнение о роли примечетских школ в противодействии религиозному экстремизму (на примере Дагестана)

The religious revival and religious education are the most important issues for modern Russian society. The confessional revival manifests not only in the possibility to demonstrate the attitude toward the religion (believer / non-believer), but also in the emergence of radical ideas in the mass consciousness, especially among the younger generation. It is expressed in the manifestation of the extremeness of consciousness, moreover, of religious consciousness, which lead to the practices of forceful resolution of the problems. Empirical data show that the population of Dagestan sees in the mosque school, as an initial segment of Muslim education in the Republic, a potential to oppose radical ideology in modern Dagestan society.  The respondents underline that the maktab teachers raise true Muslims, actively opposing the appearance of destructive phenomena whith religious connotation in the society. At the same time there is a statistically small part of respondents, who critically assesses the role of maktabs in opposing Salafi ideology. The results of the expert survey indicate that the state of the absence of the educational structures control over Muslim education and the ideological attitudes of the maktab teachers create a fertile ground for the emergence of Salafi ideas among the students. The respondents suggest the parents of pupils to control the learning process in the mosque school in the framework the of the Russian Federation laws.

HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN OF PETER THE GREAT 1722-1723 AND ITS RESULTS (TO THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY)

The article is devoted to the historiographic understanding of the problem of the Persian campaign of 1722–1723. Peter the Great and the stay of the Russian imperial army in the southwestern Caspian region in the first third of the 18th century. The work examines the process of the formation and evolution of the approaches of historians and historical thought on the problem for almost three centuries. Historiographic comprehension of the problem will make it possible to trace the dynamics of historical thought in the history of the Persian campaign, identify the most poorly developed aspects, show innovative assessments of authors of different historical eras, and update new plots. The relevance of this study is also due to the absence of a historiographical sketch even in the genre of an article on the history of the Persian campaign of Peter I. The pre-revolutionary historiography’s practice of studying the Persian campaign in the context of studying the wars of conquest of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus is analyzed. The works of military and civil historians of this period served a political purpose - to substantiate the advancement and establishment of the empire in the Caucasus region. The main attention was paid to the military-political side of the campaign, its foreign policy background. At the same time, the first special historical studies on the history of the campaign appeared, which are valuable historiographic sources. Many of them were written on the basis of handwritten documents from the personal archive of Peter I, some of which were later lost or became difficult to access. In the Soviet era, the study of various aspects of the campaign, associated with its prerequisites and reasons, the economic and economic development of the region, was significantly expanding, new documentary data were introduced into scientific circulation. Soviet historians adhered to the concept of the objectively progressive meaning of the annexation of the Caspian regions to the Russian Empire, regardless of whatever goals tsarism pursued. The Persian campaign of Peter I was assessed as the protection of the Caucasian peoples from the tyranny of Iran and Turkey. In the last two or three decades, in the study of the problem of the military-political campaign of 1722-1723. empire, there were significant successes associated with the development of new plots, using modern historical approaches, and the introduction into scientific circulation of a colossal fund of archival documents and narrative sources. At the same time, in the 1990s, there are attempts to revise the “Persian campaign”, to replace it with a new name - “Caspian campaign”, which has not been established outside the limits of regional Caucasian studies. At the present stage, researchers deepen and expand the existing scientific understanding of this problem by applying such scientific approaches as the history of everyday life, military-historical anthropology. In modern domestic historiography, there has been a tendency to study the historical memory of Dagestan society about the image of Peter I and to study the problem from the standpoint of the Russian-Persian-Ottoman borderland (frontier), which acted not only as a zone of conflict, resistance, but also the interaction of border communities and their elites.

Social'naya aktivnost' zhenshchin v obshchestvenno-politicheskih processah Dagestana v 20—30-e gg. XX v.

Based on archival materials and special literature, the article analyzes the social activity of women in socio-political processes in the 20-30s of the twentieth century in Dagestan. Various forms of women’s participation in socio-political processes, the work of women’s departments, and their social activity are studied. It was revealed that traditional ideas about the position of women continued to dominate in Dagestan society.

Семейные ценности и традиции: роль и функции (на примере Дагестана)

Domestic familists, analyzing the current state of the family, emphasize that complex and contradictory processes are taking place in it, due to objective and subjective reasons, among which can be noted a change in demographic behavior, the emergence, or rather, the renaissance of the institution of polygamy, focus on small families, loss of traditional family values The transformations taking place in the space of family and marriage relations naturally affected the traditional Dagestan society, in which attitudes towards having many children and adherence to certain rules of family behavior have historically prevailed. The author's empirical research shows that in the mass consciousness of the surveyed population of Dagestan, the position showing the orientation of the respondents to follow the established family traditions and customs prevails, although there is also a noticeable difference between rural and urban areas. The existence of differences in the attitudes of the townspeople and the rural population is due to the fact that urbanization, polyethnicity and polyconfessionalism have a huge impact on urban culture, compared to rural areas, where the traditional way of life is preserved. In the mass consciousness of the respondents, there is an emotional attitude towards childless married couples who, for objective reasons, cannot have children, but empirical data show a tolerant attitude of the Dagestani population towards voluntary childlessness with the motivation for the need to protect the personal space of each person who has family values that differ from those around them and installation. The study did not reveal significant differences in the marital status of the respondents, i.e. marital status does not have any influence on the formation, firstly, of seed values, and secondly, when indicating their attitude towards married couples who, for one reason or another, do not have children.

“Al-Athar” — a Monument of Muhammad al-Yaragi’s Written Heritage

This paper is devoted to the source research analysis of the collection works and letters of a famous Dagestani Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaragi, which are written in Arabic and known as ‘Al-Athar’. Despite a keen interest in the personality of the sheikh, practically nothing was known about the content of this book, the only one extant from his written heritage. Meanwhile, the research of these collected works allows us to provide unique insight into the views and beliefs of this famous sheikh. In this regard, the authors examined in detail the structure of ‘Al-Athar’, having determined the genre variety of the manuscript materials included in it. The collection consists of two qasids, texts of several duas and instructions, a biography of the sheikh written by his son, as well as his extensive correspondence with various Dagestani theologians and communities. The collection ends with a small work in poetic form by Jamaluddin al-Gazigumuki, in which he quotes his silsila, i. e. a consistent chain of succession of the sheikhs of the Naqshbandi tariqa. The materials under research provide interesting information about the political and spiritual life of Dagestan society in the first half of the 19th century. At the same time, they provide an insight into the resumption of the interrupted Sufi tradition in the region.

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

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.

RAISING THE ROLE AND AUTHORITY OF A WOMAN IN THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE OF DAGESTAN DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

The article is devoted to relevant scientific problem, since the period of the Great Patriotic War is one of the turning points, nodal moments in the history of our country, in general, and in the history of the female movement in the USSR, in particular. The mass involvement of women in public production, due to the forced development of the economy during the years of industrialization and increased in military time, led to a fundamental change in the status and role of women in the economic, social, political and cultural life of the Soviet society. The relevance of this research is due to the need to study the contribution to the victory of women of the Multiethnic North Caucasus, including Dagestan, a multi-faceted feat of women during the war years, their contribution to victory over fascism deserve high public recognition. The Great Patriotic War contributed to a significant change in the role of a woman in society. The purpose of the research is to show how a woman during the War had to perform the functions that were mainly assigned to men, especially taking into consideration the masculine character of traditional Dagestan society. Documentary materials and special research have been used and the conclusion has been made that during the war women were leading force in solving the tasks of industrial production and agriculture, they were forced to do a heavy work, because all the capable male population were mobilized to the front. The study allows to identify and comprehend the features, the genesis of the development of female activity of the peoples of Dagestan during the war years, to understand the importance and uniqueness of gender-history processes.

Первая мировая война в периферийном зеркале истории: восприятие войны населением Дагестанской области

The study aims to show, on the basis of archival documents and periodical materials, dynamics of true attitude and perception of war by different groups of Dagestan society. The article considers psychophysiological perception of war in Dagestan Oblast population’s daily life. Scientific novelty of the work combines microhistory, anthropology and history of everyday life, the basis for which resides in unpublished sources, recollections of eyewitnesses of the process, as well as in recent developments made by researchers studying the region. The attained results have shown evolution in perception of war and everything related to it by Dagestan Oblast’s population. Different social groups’ worldview shifted from patriotism to disappointment, then to exasperation, criticism of the government and its actions intensified.

LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN-HIGHLANDERS IN THE END OF 1920S – FIRST HALF OF 1930S: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY

The modern legal status of a Russian woman and the establishment of conditions for achieving equality between men and women have been in the focus of the state and society. In this regard, the study and generalization of the historical experience of gender regulation in Soviet Russia (1917–1991), especially in the late 1920s – early 1930s, is of undoubted scientific and practical interest, by the end of which the authorities announced the solution to the “women’s question”. The issues of the legal status of the Russian women are reflected in works of native, as well as regional and foreign experts. Modern historiographical groundwork, new sources (starting from the normative and record-keeping documents to materials of periodicals and ego-documents), the use of the principle of historicism, systematic and anthropologic approaches, comparative-historical, comparative-legal and descriptive methods allow to reveal the legal status of women-highlanders of Dagestan.
 The study aims to demonstrate how in the conditions of the polyethnic region the Soviet legislation of the first decades of Soviet power, making adjustments to the rights and obligations of a highland woman who was under the great influence of Islam and the historically established traditions of Dagestan society, changed its position and provided new opportunities for implementation women’s aspirations in everyday, economic, professional, political and cultural life. The paper provides estimations on some “traditional” practices of women, who were discontented with policies carried out by the Soviet power and who organized public marches.
 As a result of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that the Soviet authorities viewed women as their ally in socialist transformations, and the legal and economic equality of men and women, recorded in Soviet laws, created conditions for the involvement of women in all spheres of life of the Dagestan society. At the same time, during the period under review, the predominance of the traditional form of the family continued to be ensured by the strictest social control.

Study of Dagestan through the 9th-13th centuries Arabic sources in historiography of Russian and overseas scholars

The article reviews main works of Russian and foreign authors devoted to the study of the history of medieval Dagestan based on Arabic sources of the 9th-13th centuries on a chronological basis. The Dagestan society political and social life, historical geography, islamization of the region were these and other questions under the focus of these scholars who had developed them on the basis of the in-depth study and knowledge of Arabic historical and geographical sources. The scientific novelty of the paper is determined by the fact that in this work a comparative study of the literature throughout the 19th and early 21st centuries, belonging to the Russian and foreign historiography on Dagestan according to the Arab authors of the 9th-13th centuries, is carried out. The material presented in the article makes it possible to see the source-study outcomes of scholars in studying the history of medieval Dagestan from early Arabic sources, and shows different aspects of the problem which need further development.

Антропология религиозного конфликта на постсоветском городском пространстве в условиях трансформации общества (на примере исламского фактора в Дагестане)

Depending on the specific historical and socio-political situation in society, religious fac-tors can play various roles. In times of social crisis, it becomes one of the most influential forces used by various social and political groups in their own interests. In the capable hands of both individuals and statesmen, religion has the ability to influence the internal political situation and the mobilization of society. This was especially evident in the transit period of our country's history, when the historical prerequisites for the reforms defined the essence of socio-economic, political, spiritual development of the USSR in the second half of the 1980s – early 1990s. During this period, the development of the spiritual field of Russian society was characterized by a growing interest in Islam. All the prerequisites for the re-Islamization process have been established here. In this context, the Republic of Dagestan can serve as a local example, the development of which in the post-Soviet period of Russian history was conditioned by a difficult and sometimes rather complicated socio-political situation closely intertwined with the Islamic factor, headed by religious leaders who created a conflict situation. Concentrating attention on the role of the individual in the formation and development of social and religious processes, in the proposed article the authors try to consider the confrontation between society and the state in the struggle for the dominance of religious ideas against the background of the existing socio-economic and socio-political factors in the conditions of increased national consciousness in the Dagestan society.