Derbend-Nameh by Muhammad Avabi Aktashi: A Literary Reflection of Khazar History and How the City of Anji Was Destructed

Introduction. The paper attempts a scholarly insight into medieval historical chronicles for a new comprehension of Derbend-Nameh by Muhammad Avabi Aktashi (sixteenth–seventeenth centuries) that stands at the beginnings of Dagestani prose. Goals. The study seeks to identify the literary task set forth by the medieval author when he set to create the historical/literary narrative, reveal some meanings hidden therein, and show how the author influences a reader with the aid of stylistic techniques and expressive means. Methods. The work employs the cultural/historical and receptive methods, the latter be manifested (implemented) via ‘readers’ expectations’, certain derived genre norms, implied correlations between fiction and reality, text and context. The hermeneutic method proves most instrumental in revealing opportunities for multiple interpretations of one and the same text. Results. Our study attest to the author used not only documents and facts from the preceding Tawarikh-i Derbend-Nameh (The Book of Derbent Stories) but also invested his own knowledge of ancient fiction and undertones — to establish the genre of historical prose in Kumyk literature. This is evidenced by the author’s appeal to the key characteristic features of fiction: abundance of folklore legends, fragments from Arab, Oriental and European chronicles and fiction texts; hyperbolized narration about the size of Derbent and the Derbent Wall; fantastic elements, images of historical personalities, such as Zulkarnein Iskander (Alexander the Great), Kubad-Shah, Abu-Muslim and others; the formal and compositional division of the text (war between Arabs and Khazars, war between Persians and Khazars, ruling years of Abu Muslim); hidden meanings of the narrative about Khazars and the city of Anji (emotional narrative of battles attended by Khazars and Muslims); reflections on the turning point in history, impacts on the reader’s feelings by means of literary devices and artistic expressions. Conclusions. Despite the book by Muhammad Avabi Aktashi deals with the history of Derbent, it clearly shows the author’s intention and literary task to shed light on another city, the ancient Anji, as well as on the tragic collapse of the Khazar state. It is shown that the book served a landmark at the beginnings of Kumyk prose — and gave impulse to the latter’s further evolution.

1. Aktashi M. A. Derbend-Nameh. G. Orazaev, A. Shikhsaidov (transl.). Makhachkala: Dagestan Book Publ., 1992. 160 p. (In Russ.)

2. Filatova K. A. (comp., ed.) The Dictionary of Byzantium. In 2 vols. St. Petersburg: Amfora, 2011. Vol. 1. 591 p. (In Russ.)

3. Nizami G. Iskandar-Nameh. Baku: Yazychy, 1983. 998 p. (In Russ.)

4. Orlov I. Six legends about Derbent. On: Ekho Kavkaza (Echo of the Caucasus). Space. Posted on 18 September 2015. Available at: https://etokavkaz.ru/derbent-2000/shest-legend-o-derbente (accessed: 20 March 2023). (In Russ.)

5. Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor. About peoples inhabiting lands north of the Caspian Gates (The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor. Book 12. Chapter 7). In: Petrukhin V. Ya., Raevsky D. S. Essays in the History of Russia’s Peoples during the Ancient and Medieval Periods. Supplement (Studia Historica). Moscow: Znak, 2004. P. 385. On: Historical Library (historylib.org). Available at: https://historylib.org/historybooks/V-YA--Petrukhin--D-S--Raevskiy_Ocherki-istorii-narodov-Rossii-v-drevnosti-i-rannem-Srednevekove/76 (accessed: 20 March 2023). (In Russ.)

6. Abdullatipov A.-K. Yu. History of Kumyk Literature (Prior to 1917). Pt. 1. Makhachkala: Dagestan Scientific Center (RAS), 1995. 213 p. (In Russ.)

7. Abdurakhmanova M. S. Contemporary Kumyk Prose. Cand. Sc. (philology) thesis abstract. Makhachkala, 2010. 19 p. (In Russ.)

8. Akamov A. T. The Development Paths of Kumyk Spiritual Literature: Seventeenth to Twentieth Centuries. Dr. Sc. (philology) thesis abstract. Makhachkala, 2012. 23 p. (In Russ.)

9. Amirkhangentli Q. Anji-Nameh. A. Adzhiev (transl.). Khasavyurt: Abusupiyan, 2018. 200 p. (In Russ.)

10. Artamonov M. I. Ancient Derbent: A preliminary report. Sovetskaya arkheologiya. 1946. Vol. 8. Pp. 121–144. (In Russ.)

11. Barthold V. V. More on the origin of Derbend-Nameh. In: Barthold V. V. Writings. Vol. 8. Moscow: Nauka — GRVL, 1973. Pp. 469–480. (In Russ.)

12. Bertels E. E. Nizami. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1947. 304 p. On: LibKing.ru (online library). Available at: https://libking.ru/books/nonf-/nonf-biography/187740-e-bertels-nizami.html (accessed: 13 April 2023). (In Russ.)

13. Cary G. The Medieval Alexander. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967. 190 p. (In Eng.)

14. Çelebi E. Book of Travel. A. Zheltyakov (transl., comment.). Pt. 2: Lands of the North Caucasus, Volga and Don River Basins. Moscow: Nauka — GRVL, 1979. 249 p. (In Russ.)

15. Gadzhiev M. S. Derbent — monument of world culture. History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus. 2015. No. 1. Pp. 5–20. (In Russ.)

16. Gasanov M. R. Muhammad, Awabi Ectasy – known historian of the second half of 16th – early of the 17th centuries. Scientific Thought of Caucasus. Series ‘History and Archaeology’. 2019. No. 2. Pp. 68–70. (In Russ.)

17. Karamzin N. M. History of the Russian State. Vol. 3. St. Petersburg: N. Grech, 1818. 688 p. (In Russ.)

18. Kazembek M. A. Derbend-Nameh. In: Selected Works. Baku: Elm, 1985. Pp. 227–245. (In Russ.)

19. Klaproth V. Geographisch-historische Beschreibung des Ostlischen Kaukasus zwischen den Flüssen Terek, Aragwi, Kur und dem Kaspischen Meere. Weimar: Verlag des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs, 1814. 218 p. (In Germ.)

20. Kostyukhin E. A. Alexander the Great in Literary and Folklore Traditions. Moscow: Nauka — GRVL, 1972. 192 p. (In Russ.)

21. Kozubsky E. I. History of the City of Derbent. Temir-Khan-Shurá: V. Sorokin, 1906. 258 p. (In Russ.)

22. Kudryavtsev A. A. ‘Darband’. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. New York: Columbia University, 1992. Pp. 13–19. (In Eng.)

23. Kudryavtsev A. A. Ancient Derbent. Moscow: Nauka, 1982. 176 p. (In Russ.)

24. Magomedov M. G. The Shaping of the Khazar Khaganate: A Study of Archaeological Material and Written Sources. Moscow: Nauka, 1983. 228 p. (In Russ.)

25. Minorsky V. A History of Sharvan and Darband in the 10th–11th Centuries. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, 1958. 227 p. (In Eng.)

26. Nosenko-Shtein E. E., Petrukhin V. Ya. (comps., eds.) Khazars: Myth and History. A. Alikberov et al. (eds.). Jerusalem, Moscow: Gesharim–Mosty Kultury, 2010. 408 p. (In Russ.)

27. Olearius A. Travels of the Ambassadors Sent by Frederic, Duke of Holstein, to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia. St. Petersburg: A. Suvorin, 1906. 582 p. (In Russ.)

28. Orazaev G. M. On Russian translations of Dagestan historic works «Derbend-Nameh» and «Darband-Nama-yi Jadid» (Historiographic aspect). History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus. 2017. Vol. 13. No. 2 (50). Pp. 5–13. (In Russ.)

29. Polo M. The Travels of Marco Polo (Proceedings of Imperial Russian Geographical Society 26). I. Minaev (transl.), V. Barthold (ed.). St. Petersburg: M. Stasyulevich, 1902. 355 p. (In Russ.)

30. Psellos M. Chronographia. N. Lyubarsky, D. Chernoglazov, D. Abdrakhmanova (transl.). St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2003. 397 p. (In Russ.)

31. Pseudo-Callisthenes. Alexander Romance. In: Grabar-Passek M. E. (ed.) Late Old Greek Prose. Moscow: State Publishing House of Fiction (Khudozhestvennaya Literatura), 1961. 695 p. On: Facetiae. Available at: https://facetia.ru/pseudo-callisthenes-alexander-romance?ysclid=loylzgcxou189990684 (accessed: 14 April 2023). (In Russ.)

32. Reineggs J. Allgemeine historisch-topographische Beschreibung des Kaukasus. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. F. Schröder (ed.). Gotha, St. Petersburg: Gerstenberg & Dittmar, 1796. 312 p. (In Germ.)

33. Shikhsaidov A. R., Orazaev G. M. On manuscript editions of Derbend-Nameh (In lieu of a preface). In: Aktashi M. A. Derbend-Nameh. Makhachkala: Dagestan Book Publ., 1992. Pp. 3–39. (In Russ.)