TIMUR’S WARRIORS AND FIRST MUSLIMS IN KISCHA VILLAGE: EPIGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF ABU BAKAR-SHEIKH CEMETERY

The article overviews some tombstones of the Abu Bakar-sheikh cemetery (Darg. – Abu Bakar-shaikhla hIyabri), located in the center of the village of Kischa. During the detailed analysis of their styles, shapes, inscriptions, as well as interviews with locals, the authors divided the monuments into two groups according to their characteristic features. The first one is tombstones of Abu Bakar-sheikh’ followers, who after his death remained in the village. The monuments of this group are characterized with artistic variety, rich ornament, and the inscriptions carved on them, mainly written in Kufic script. By analogy with dated steles of the similar design in the Kubachi highlands and the Kaitag-Tabasaran zone, the monuments can be dated from the beginning to the first half of the 15th century. The second group of tombstones located in the same cemetery is distinguished by the lack of decoration and stone processing; the names of the buried have Turkic-Persian roots which is not characteristic of local anthroponymy. By combining these facts, as well as information from written sources and local legends, it was possible to draw a parallel between these burials and Timur's sixth campaign to Dagestan in 1396. The reconstruction of events established that Kischa village, located at the old trade route that connected Kaitag and Zirihgheran with Akusha, Usisha and Mugi villages, was in the way of Timur’s army heading towards Kaitag and Zirihgheran. Upon pillaging the village, timurids suffered some losses, and the only possible place for burring their dead in Kischa was the Muslim cemetery of Abu Bakar-sheikh. Thus, the paper describes the group of tombstones of Timur’s soldiers, which is unique in modern Dagestan.