Dargins

Pre-Islamic beliefs. Ethnographic research records accounts of patrons of nature and the economy, sacred places, prohibitions and protective actions. Later records make it possible to study local beliefs, but they do not reconstruct a single unchanging religion of all the ancient Dargins. The sun, the moon and the weather. Among the Tsudakhar people, Seferbekov describes the sun in the image of a girl and the moon in the image of a young man, as well as accounts of the angels of rain and hail. The author links the latter images to a reinterpretation of earlier beliefs in a Muslim environment. This is an ethnographic interpretation, not a dated ancient canon. The name TsIalla in the records. Seferbekov cites a record of the name Zalla by Güldenstädt dating from the 1770s. The late recording of the name serves as evidence of the history of beliefs, but by itself it does not establish what the beliefs looked like in all Dargin societies many centuries before the record. The grain field and domestic well-being. The Tsudakhar materials describe a spirit of the field, the last sheaf, a woman with a sickle who helps the reapers, and a doll made of dough. These images are connected with the harvest and prosperity; they cannot automatically be transferred to all Dargin groups or to modern religious practice. Rain and sun rites. Field materials from Kharbuk and Kubachi collected in 2017–2024 show special actions for drought and bad weather. They relate to specific communities and situations; they cannot be presented as the modern behaviour of every Dargin. Christian traces and caution in attribution. Medieval Dagestan was religiously heterogeneous. When interpreting carved stone, burials and travellers' reports, it is necessary to distinguish the date of the monument, the place of discovery and the conclusion about the faith of the inhabitants. A single motif does not prove that the whole people professed Christianity. What is known about Christian connections. Aliyev examines missionary connections, local traditions and historical names, emphasising that the spread of Christianity was not simultaneous. His reconstructions must be correlated with the nature of each piece of evidence. The claim of a simultaneous baptism of all Dargins is not confirmed by the materials. How Islam spread. The process proceeded through connections with Muslim centres, preachers, political relations and armed clashes. For Dargin societies, medieval inscriptions and local reports are important; the arrival of the Arabs in Derbent is not equivalent to the conversion of all mountain villages. Local centres of the spread of Islam. The academic history of Dagestan links the spread of the new faith not only to external campaigns but also to local rulers and centres. Urkarakh, Kalakoreish and Ashty became conduits of religious culture. Networks of communication and learning linked settlements that converted at different times. Kalakoreish and written evidence. The mosque, mihrab and epitaphs of Kalakoreish make it possible to study the Muslim culture of Kaitag. The tradition of the Qurayshi origin of the founders should be designated as a tradition, distinguishing it from datable inscriptions. Kubachi and the dating of conversion. The academic history of Dagestan cites a report of the conversion of Kubachi in 1306 with the participation of Sheikh Hasan. This is a local date from a historical reconstruction, not a single year of the adoption of Islam by all Dargins. How to read reports about "infidels". The military rhetoric of conquerors is not equivalent to a description of the faith of the population. The authors of the academic history of Dagestan explain Timur's use of this designation as a political justification for war and do not consider it proof of the absence of Islam in Kaitag and Zirikhgeran. The Sunni tradition. Historically, Sunni Islam, predominantly of the Shafi'i school of law, became established among believing Dargins. The local community, education and religious authorities participated in the transmission of knowledge; ethnicity does not determine a person's degree of religiosity. Adat and Muslim law. Customary law and Sharia norms interacted and could diverge. The "Code of Preserved Laws of Kaitag-Dargo" makes it possible to examine legal life in a specific social environment without conflating all local customs with religious prescriptions. Family rites and local culture. The Kubachi wedding combines religious beliefs, family participation, festive clothing and ritual actions. A study of 2017–2018 shows a local complex and its changes in the town. The Soviet period. Anti-religious policy restricted institutions and public practice. At the same time, family knowledge and local religious memory could be preserved. The history of communities requires the study of specific documents, not the assumption of a complete disappearance of faith. After the collapse of the USSR. The opening of religious educational institutions, new connections and disputes about permissible practices became part of the public life of Dagestan. Researchers emphasise the diversity of the processes usually called the "Islamic revival". Religious life today. Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Friday prayer and family rites are important for Muslim communities. Among the Dargins there are people with different attitudes to religion; historical field descriptions cannot be presented as statistics on all modern believers.