Use this thread to ask general questions that apply to you more than to the region.

For example, what music you like that is acceptable, what quirks or behaviours you have that are seen as offensive, if your music would be appreciated.

Hello,

I am Half Adyge (Father), Half Dagestani(Mother), but both are diaspora caucasians (Syria). I don’t speak either language (Adyghe, Kumyk, Russian) but I really want to, which one should I start with?

My father speaks Adyghe/Arabic, my mother speaks only Arabic, they didn’t bother teaching me anything so I grew up only speaking Arabic then English.

I’m quite young so I could see myself learning a third language by the time I’m in my mid twenties.

TLDR: I want to learn a language, I don’t know which ( Adyghe, kumyk, Russian)

Thank you / Wepsaw

On Professor Rezo Khutsishvili's website it says these are the origins of these names.

Georgian names of Iranian Origin:

• Afrasion (Persian) "furious"
• Avtandil (Iranian?) means "heart of the motherland", "faith of the motherland" or "center of faith"
• Bezhan/Bejan (Iranian) comes from an old Iranian name (Vezhan - "Vegeli"). The vowel sound is changed in Persian: vezhan_bezhan. Bejani is one of the heroes of Firdous' famous poem "Shah-Name".
• Darispan (Persian) "Door of Ispaani"
• Edisher (Persian) "Feast of the Lion"
• Farnaoz (Iranian) "brilliant", "magnificent", "handsome", "eloquent" The old form is Farnavaz
• Gurgen (Iranian) "of a wolf"
• Gulnara (Persian) (*feminine): "pomegranate flower". Iranian: Golnar
• Jansug (Persian) "whose soul was burned" (meaning with love), "soul-burner", "lover" (etymology is doubtful).
• Janiko (Persian) (*unisex): the Persian name 'Jan' ("soul", "beloved") has the Georgian suffix 'ik'-o attached to it. Variant: Ianko?
• Juansher (Persian) "young lion"
• Karaman (Persian) "hero"
• Khatuna (Iranian?) (*feminine): ​​means "lady" kadın/qadın/xātun (Turkic)
• Khvashak (Iranian) (*feminine): "good", "beautiful". Affectionate form: Khvavkha?
• Khwaramze (Persian/Eastern Iranian origin?/ Sogdian?) (*feminine): "sunny", The old form is Khuarandze. Hvar//Khvar means "sun" in Iranian languages, so Khvara-mze seems to represent together, synonymously, the Iranian and Georgian names of the sun. ("mze" means "Sun" in Georgian)
• Luarsab (Iranian) this Iranian name consists of two words: rudhr "red" and asp "horse". Hence rudhr-asp (from which is derived the Sparian luhrasp), means "red (quran, chestnut) horse". Luhrasp is the name of the hero of "Shah-name", the legendary king.
• Manuchar (Iranian) "Heavenly Faced"
• Merab (Persian) "having the splendor of Mithras (the god)" Iranian: Mirab
• Nodar (Iranian) "very young"
• Noshrevan (Persian) "of immortal soul", "immortal in spirit"
• Nugzar (Iranian) appears to be the same name as Nodar (←Navdar//Nazir)
• Parsadon (Persian) "wise", "learned", "scholar"
• Qaikhosro (Iranian) "famous prince" abbreviated forms : Khosro, Khosia, Khosita, Khosrua
• Khosro (Persian) "having a good name", "famous", "renowned". It was used as an epithet of Shahs of Persia, and from this it acquired the meaning of "king" in general Iranian: Khosrow
• Rajden (Iranian) "Happy". It is found in Georgian since ancient times.
• Rati (Iranian) "master", or "generous", "lenient"
• Revaz (Iranian) "richest", "excellent". Affectionate forms are: rezo, reziko
• Rodam (Persian) (*feminine): "river water", "river flash". It is also found in the name of a man. This name (Rudabe||Rodabe – Rodam) is the name of one of the heroes of "Shah-name" by Firdous.
• Rostom (Persian) is the name of a legendary Persian hero and is therefore often translated as "lion" or "hero". It actually consists of two words: rust "height" (same as Russian рост) and tahm "power". It is pronounced Rustam in Persian; Recently accepted Russian Ruslan. According to the Persian folk etymology preserved in Firdous' "Shah-Name", this name is based on the expression: Berastem - "I felt relief", "I was freed" (so said Rostom's mother, who had a hard time giving birth to this Goliath child.).
• Rusudan (Persian) (*feminine): rusu \" day \", \" long day \" (ruz - \" day \", "dan" is a Persian suffix that also produces Farsadan, Sari and other names).
• Siaosh (Iranian) meaning "dark-skinned", "black man". In old Georgian, it entered in the form of Shiosh
• Tamaz (Old Iranian) "strong horse" or "strong horseman".
• Tariel (Iranian) It is thought that it comes from the Iranian Dariel, which consists of two parts: Dar, Dara - "priest", "king", "owner" and Yel - "hero", "servant". Thus, Tariel means "hero king", "servant king
• Teimuraz (Iranian) "strong in body". Its ancient form is thought to be the Indian Tahmaurupa ("mighty fox"), but was later reintroduced and changed into Iranian.
• Vache (Iranian) was a widespread name in Georgia in ancient times. Vache is an Iranian name of origin and means "lad", "child", "boy", "son"
• Vakhushti (Iranian) "best", "heaven"
• Vakhtang - is a well-known name in Georgian since ancient times and is still common today. It is related to the Iranian languages ​​and means "Mglistanian", "wolf".
• Vardan (Iranian) "hero". It may have entered Georgian from Armenian, where it is more common.
• Zaal (Persian) "old man". This name is given to one of the heroes of "Shah-name" of Firdous, Rostom's father, who was born with completely white hair and eyebrows, and that's why his father Saam called him "old man". Others called it also Zar - "golden" by combining these two names, Zaalzar is obtained, the simplified form of which is Zaza.
• Zurab (Persian) name (Surkhab||Sukhrab), which is literally translated as "red water", but in ancient times it also meant a red glowing precious stone - ruby. It is this last meaning that should be the basis of a person's name. Zurab was the name of the son of the legendary Iranian hero Rostom. Other forms of this name: Zura. Iranian: Sohrab

Georgian names of Arabic Origin:

• Baaka (Arabic?)(بقى) may be derived from the Arabic baqa, which means "permanent", "solid" and is known as a personal name in Arabic.
• Otar (Arabic)(عطار) "fragrant", "sweet", "medicine". Its affectionate form is Otia.
• Shermadin (Arabic) "Conscience of Faith". Alternate forms: Shermazan?
• Sulkhan (Arabic)(صلحان؟ َ) "fair"
• Turfa/Turpa (Arabic)(طرفة) (Feminine:) Turfa is an Arabic word of origin, meaning "newness", "foreign, wonderful, rare thing", "gift".

Georgian Names I couldn't find any information on:

MALE:

1. Abash (აბაშ): (related to Abbas?)
2. Shermazan (შერმაზან): (related to Shermadin?)
3. Palavand (ფალავანდ): (middle persian Pahlaw?, Parthian Pahlawanig? or Pahlavi?, There was an Atabeg of Azerbaijan in 1175 named Jahan-Pahlavan

Female:

1. Gulbudakh (გულბუდახ): (There is a Timurid Afghani princess named Gulbadan)
2. Astandari (ასტანდარი): (seems to be a surname in Iran)

Any information would be really helpful. Thank you.

Azerbaijan and Armenian seem to have more Middle Eastern affinity due to sharing a border with Iran and having a Shared history. Alot of Azeris live in Iran as well as Armenians living in Lebanon and Syria and Palestine ans Iraq. Azerbaijani cuisine is similar to Persian and Turkish while Armenian cuisine is a lot like Turkish or Levantine influenced. Georgian cuisine is quite unique overall with not many dishes being shared with other countries. Many if not vast majority of Georgians do not feel any affinity with Middle Eastern countries compared to Azeris and Armenians who seem to have much more affinity to it. Why is Georgia more European? Is it because Georgians say so and don't feel close or because is it facts? Georgians feel close to Europeans and have basically little no no knowledge about countries outside of Russia, Ukraine and the EU. Georgians in general seem more homogeneous towards life and other cultures.

The Indigenous Peoples of the North Caucasus (Paleo-Caucasians)

These are the peoples that, according to studies and archaeological excavations, originated in the geographical area that is now the North Caucasus. They have inhabited this region since prehistoric times, dating back to the Stone Ages, as indicated by scientific excavation work, showing the consistent succession of layers and the continuity of cultural development without interruption. This allows us to conclude that they developed and evolved locally, without migrating from other areas. Excavation results also point to their relatedness and common origins, dividing them into two main groups:

Western Group:

• The Adyghe: These people inhabit the western half of the North Caucasus (from the Black Sea coast through the Terek River basin, and the Kuban River basin). This group consists of approximately 17 tribes, the largest and most populous being the Kabarday tribe. All these tribes speak one language with closely related dialects.
• The Uybkh: This tribe suffered significant losses during the Russo-Circassian war, leading to their assimilation into the Adyghe tribes, and the disappearance of their language, which was considered a bridge between the Adyghe and Abkhaz languages.
• The Abkhaz: These people inhabit the eastern coast of the Black Sea, beyond the Caucasus Mountains, historically known as Colchis, now called Abkhazia. The dialects of (Adyghe, Abaza, and Abkhaz) have diverged enough to become three distinct languages, yet they still show close linguistic relationships.

Eastern Group:

• The Vainakh: These people inhabit an area known as (Dighst) and are the largest group in the eastern region, residing in the middle basin of the Terek River and its tributaries. They consist of two major tribes: the Chechens, the larger of the two, and the Ingush. They share a common language with two closely related dialects.
• The Ossetians: Their distant origins trace back to the indigenous Caucasian tribe (Laz or Alans), with Indo-European (Scytho-Sarmatian) influences, evident in their language and dialects.
• The Dagestani: This group comprises several peoples; some are original Caucasians, while others have ancient roots in the region, making them effectively indigenous.

Settlers in the North Caucasus:

• The Ancient Settlers: These are groups who settled in the northern Caucasus in ancient times and gradually became part of the native Caucasian population, such as the majority of the people and tribes in eastern Dagestan, as well as the Karachay and Balkar people in the western part. After the end of the Russo-Circassian War.
• The Modern Settlers: These include the Russians and Cossacks who settled in the North Caucasus during and after the Russian-Circassian War.

Are Circassians(and by extension, Abazins) ethnically European whites plus had spoke any form of Indo-European language or had languages similar to it?

And are Abazins ethnically (by blood, not just culture) closer to Abkhazians or Circassians?

It is popularly know that the Chechens and Ingush prohibit cousin marriages, but what about other Caucasian ethnicities? Lezgins, Avars, Lak, Dargin, Circassians, Ossetian, Kumyk, Nogay and Georgians? Which of those allow and disallow?

Kabardino, Kabarda, Kabardin.. I cannot find any origin information on these words.

Kabars are the Khazar rebels who fled to Eastern Europe.

Akhalkalaki 89%

Ninotsminda 86%

Bolnisi 83%

Sachkhere 82%

Lentekhi 75%

Dmanisi 73%

Kazbegi 73%

Tsalka 72%

Lagodekhi 71%

Chokhatauri, Tetritskaro, Akaltsikhe, Mestia, Keda, Vani 70%

Sagarejo, Sighnaghi 69%

Ozurgeti 68%

Aspindza 67%

Akhmeta, Zugdidi, Gori 59-60%

As you can see Sachkhere, Bidzina Ivanishvili's home municipality voted overwhelming on his behalf. Most of Adjara voted for him. Most ethnic minorities. Most rural areas. Most of Imereti.

But even Tbilisi Georgian dream got the most votes out of all the parties. Even in Rustavi. And Kutaisi.

It is clear that Rustavi, Kutaisi and Tbilisi are the most liberalized areas, but still they got around 40% or over in those areas.

Georgian dream did the poorest in the richest district Vake at 39%, but still even in the supposedly richest and most educated sector he still did the best.

So, I was led to believe by Reddit that Georgian dream was unpopular. But I get the feeling most people that browse this subreddit are underage.

It's clear most people voted for Dream. And it's the vocal reddit leftists that don't represent the majority. It seems boomers like Dream, rural people like dream, ethnic minorities like dream.

How did the Georgians living in Russia and the United States vote? I am assuming those living in Russia would vote for Dream.

There doesn't seem to be unity among the opposition all of them getting a little sliver of the votes

And what are the reasons? You can mention geographical, cultural, political, religious, and other reasons.

Personally, I don't feel like I belong anywhere, LOL.

Recently, I was watching a vlog about punjabi vloggers passing through ingushetia. I was really impressed by the hospitality displayed by one restaurant owner, guy name Timur. Unfortunately, his restaurant's name was not mentioned in the video. I have attached some screenshots from the video. Can you please help me locate his cafe/restaurrant, I want to visit them myself in the future. There's a nice looking mosque nearby, might help in locating the spot.

https://preview.redd.it/doklg0qetrwd1.png?width=1418&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c7f0c1bdc15c54432c58d397d770fb50b576859

https://preview.redd.it/54vfwwpetrwd1.png?width=1468&format=png&auto=webp&s=02ecbe59a20c928f703c173f2baefd26350ee82c

https://preview.redd.it/nqpsqhsetrwd1.png?width=1563&format=png&auto=webp&s=eb994636b1ba4dc4626068d4ded13ff43c12b4ab

https://preview.redd.it/b8e5vwpetrwd1.png?width=1553&format=png&auto=webp&s=08d158ebe2169a68c11cac6f3ed37b6f2e656deb

I remember this was popular sentiment. Now the same thing is happening with this government that has over stayed its welcome. But why dont people admit that they were all anti saakashvili back then. Or are the people here too young to remember that?

So Heydar Aliyev was ruler from 1993-2003 till his death, now his son Ilham has been in office since 2003 over 20 years. The vice president of Azerbaijan is Ilham's wife.

It kind of reminds me of North Korea where Kim Jong Il's (1997-2011) son Kim Jong Un (2011-present) succeeded him.

Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan was president from 1990-2019.

Putin has effectively been leader of Russia since 2000.

Lukashenko president of Belarus since 1994.

Are these monarchies? And is Azerbaijan a monarchy? Are ex-soviet countries or the caucasus more prone to monarchism?

Hey,

Does someone know where I can get a Ingush t-shirt with the Ingush symbol on it? I looked up on the internet, but I can't really find any proper results.

Just let me know (:

Are there any english resources available to learn about the Meskhetians from Georgia. Not the deportation as that is documented but stuff like past history and things that might detail how a large amount of the Meskhetians ended up completely losing their Georgian identity?

So I personally believe that Caucasian peoples(Circassians&Abkhazians(North-West Caucasians), Nakhs&Dagestanis(North-East Caucasians), Kartvelians&Laz(South-West Caucasians)) are "related", like are Iranians, Sino-Tibetans or Tai peoples in Indochina.

However, when I surfed a bit on Georgian webs I noticed that some Georgians were saying that they are just Kartvelians and not related to anyone except themselves. Or that they are some kind of Egyptians that conquered Georgia, and other stuff. That is why I wanna ask from the conservatives to the "progressists"(liberals in russian), what is the main view? Thanks!

Hello, Caucasus! My friend and I recently decided to learn the Udi language just for fun(I mean I also love their history and that was the reason of the choice). As expected with a language as old and rare as Udi, spoken by very few people, the available resources are quite limited. I've managed to find a few Russian dictionaries and some ancient websites that barely function but once contained grammar resources. So far, these have been enough for learning simple phrases and words. However, I've hit a stumbling some problems with pronunciation(I am not sure that it is right). Additionally, I wish I could find more information on Udi grammar, dictionaries, phrases and how sentences are structured. If anyone has any knowledge or resources that could help, I’d greatly appreciate it! It doesn’t matter if the materials are in Azerbaijani, English, or Russian, as I speak all three. Thank you in advance!

I know some would be unfamiliar with this but just asking if anyone has heard of this theory too, I find it interesting and I'm intrigued to find more

The Circassian tradition called "Pse Lekh" is a unique cultural practice that involves a formal visit by a young man and his best friend to the home of a girl he is interested in. During this visit, which typically takes place in the girl's reception room, the man engages in polite conversation to express his admiration and affection for her. The purpose of this visit is not only to communicate his feelings but also to gauge whether the girl return his interest.

In Circassian culture, these meetings are highly respectful and follow strict customs. For instance, the girl remains poised and formal throughout the encounter, showing her dignity. It’s common for a friend of the young man to accompany him as mentiond before, and this friend often helps in initiating the conversation or making the young man feel more comfortable. The atmosphere is friendly yet structured, reflecting the importance of family values and social etiquette in Circassian society.

The term "Pse Lekh" itself can be translated as "searching for the soul," symbolizing the pursuit of a deep emotional and spiritual connection, rather than a casual or slight interaction.

I specifically want to know if they’re are any based of take inspiration from local mythology.

Anyone in Chechnya, Dagestan or Ingushetia able to offer any insights in to Kadyrov’s blood feud threats?

Is this just western media trying to hype conflict?

I just watched a clip of a gas station exploding in Chechnya and wondered if the event was related.

Thanks for any thoughtful insights.

if so, what they/you say about it and what details you know about it?
is there a different between the west and the east ?

It is almost died out here but I heard that it is still alive in other parts of the middle east and some parts of the caucauses. What is the reality behind it ?

Thank you for your answers.

Is it used in daily life, in street signs…?