Aguls

Former beliefs. Ethnographers reconstruct them from folklore, calendar rites and field records. This is a scholarly reconstruction, not a surviving ancient doctrine. Sun and moon. In records from Tpig, Richa and neighbouring villages the luminaries appear as sister and brother. The variants of the stories differ. Rites and household spirits. Rain-making, protective practices and stories about the house snake have been recorded. These are historical beliefs, not a description of the convictions of every contemporary Aghul. The Christian context. Christianity in the medieval Caucasus is important for the history of the region. Its presence in neighbouring lands does not in itself prove a single Christian period for all Aghul communities. How Islam spread. Southern Daghestan was included in the early processes of Islamisation. The consolidation of the religion took place gradually, through local communities, religious centres and written culture; there is no single date of conversion. The early inscriptions of Richa. The Kufic monuments are dated palaeographically to the 11th–12th centuries. They testify to a medieval Muslim environment more reliably than later traditions. The disputed date of the mosque's foundation. Tradition attributes it to the 8th century. The historical note of Dagnasledie presents A. R. Shikhsaidov's more cautious position: approximately the 11th–12th centuries. Documents of the 13th century. The mosque existed by the time of the Mongol attack of 1239; its restoration is dated to 1250. The date of the repair is not the date of the adoption of Islam. Scholars and mentors. An epitaph of 1300–1301 contains the term "alim". Other inscriptions record sheikhs, qadis and a Sufi environment. Pirs and local memory. In Aghul villages, memorial sites of Muslim saints were venerated. Seferbekov examines the combination of such practices with earlier local notions. The Sunni tradition. The materials characterize Aghul believers as Sunni Muslims. Ethnicity does not determine a person's personal religiosity. Soviet era. State restrictions changed religious education and the activities of communities. Family transmission of practices continued under the general anti-religious policy. Late 20th century and present. The religious revival in Dagestan was accompanied by the restoration of institutions, education and discussions about tradition. Its manifestations differ by community and generation. Two calendar cycles. Spring folk holidays are associated with seasonal renewal, while Muslim holidays follow the lunar calendar. The coexistence of customs does not imply the existence of a single mandatory ritual system.