THE CAUCASUS The Caucasus is one of the most complicated regions in the world: with many dif- ferent peoples and political units, differing religious allegiances, frequent conflicts, and where historically major world powers have clashed with each other on many occasions. Until now there has been no comprehensive introductory book for those wishing to learn about this complex region. This book fills the gap, providing a clear, comprehensive introduction to the Caucasus, which is suitable for all readers. It covers the geography; the historical development of the region; economics; poli- tics and government; population; religion and society; culture and traditions; along- side its conflicts and international relations. Written throughout in an accessible style, it requires no prior knowledge of the Caucasus. The book will be invaluable for those researching specific issues, as well as for readers needing a thorough introduction to the region. Frederik Coene is currently Attaché dealing with post-conflict assistance in the Delegation of the European Commission to Georgia. His research on the Caucasus began in 1999 during his internship in the Private Office of the Secretary-General at NATO Headquarters. Since then he has researched, worked and travelled in all parts of the Caucasus. ROUTLEDGE CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE SERIES 1 LIBERAL NATIONALISM IN CENTRAL EUROPE Stefan Auer 2 CIVIL–MILITARY RELATIONS IN RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE David J. Betz 3 THE EXTREME NATIONALIST THREAT IN RUSSIA The growing influence of Western rightist ideas Thomas Parland 4 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN TATARSTAN Global markets and a Russian region Leo McCann 5 ADAPTING TO RUSSIA’S NEW LABOUR MARKET Gender and employment strategy Edited by Sarah Ashwin 6 BUILDING DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL SOCIETY EAST OF THE ELBE Essays in honour of Edmund Mokrzycki Edited by Sven Eliaeson 7 THE TELENGITS OF SOUTHERN SIBERIA Landscape, religion and knowledge in motion Agnieszka Halemba 8 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN RUSSIA Simon Clarke 9 RUSSIAN TELEVISION TODAY Primetime drama and comedy David MacFadyen 10 THE REBUILDING OF GREATER RUSSIA Putin’s foreign policy towards the CIS countries Bertil Nygren 11 A RUSSIAN FACTORY ENTERS THE MARKET ECONOMY Claudio Morrison 12 DEMOCRACY BUILDING AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN POST-SOVIET ARMENIA Armine Ishkanian 13 NATO–RUSSIA RELATIONS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Aurel Braun 14 RUSSIAN MILITARY REFORM A failed exercise in defence decision making Carolina Vendil Pallin 15 THE MULTILATERAL DIMENSION IN RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY Edited by Elana Wilson Rowe and Stina Torjesen 16 RUSSIAN NATIONALISM AND THE NATIONAL REASSERTION OF RUSSIA Edited by Marlène Laruelle 17 THE CAUCASUS An introduction Frederik Coene THE CAUCASUS An introduction Frederik Coene First published 2010 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2010 Frederik Coene All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photo- copying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Coene, Frederik. The Caucasus: an introduction / Frederik Coene. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Caucasus—Description and travel. I. Title. DK509.C64 2009 947.5—dc22 2009010323 ISBN 0-203-87071-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0–415–48660–2 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–203–87071–9 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–48660–6 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–87071–6 (ebk) CONTENTS List of illustrations vii Foreword ix Preface xi Acknowledgements xiii List of abbreviations and acronyms xv Introduction 1 1 Geography 3 2 Territorial division, government and administration 29 3 Population and society 55 4 History 89 5 Conflicts 139 6 International politics 169 7 Economy 187 8 Culture and traditions 199 Appendix I: confusing terms 208 Appendix II: population statistics by ethnic group 213 Notes 217 Suggested reading 223 Index 232 v ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1.1 Climatographs 16 3.1 Major alphabets in use in the Caucasus 69 3.2 Ethnogenetic tree of the Caucasian languages 71 3.3 Ethnogenetic tree of the Turkic languages 75 Maps 1.1 Location of the Caucasus and its territorial entities 4 1.2 Main physical-geographical regions 7 1.3 Topographical map of the Caucasus 9 1.4 Main rivers and lakes 13 1.5 Natural resources and oil and gas pipelines 20 1.6 Transport infrastructure 23 2.1 The Republic of Armenia (Hayastani Hanrapetutyun) 31 2.2 The Republic of Azerbaijan (Azarbaycan Respublikasi) 34 2.3 Georgia (Sakartvelo) 37 2.4 The Republic of Adygea 43 2.5 The Karachay–Cherkess Republic 45 2.6 The Kabardino–Balkar Republic 46 2.7 The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania 47 2.8 The Republic of Ingushetia 48 2.9 The Chechen Republic 50 2.10 The Republic of Dagestan 51 2.11 The Stavropol Kray 52 2.12 The Krasnodar Kray 53 2.13 The Rostov Oblast 54 4.1a Urartu and its neighbours around 800 BC 92 4.1b Urartu and its neighbours around 720 BC 92 4.2a Urartu and its neighbours around 610 BC, before the fall of Assyria 96 vii ILLUSTRATIONS 4.2b The Caucasus as part of the Achaemenid Empire, around 500 BC 96 4.3a The early Caucasian kingdoms around 300 BC 100 4.3b The early Caucasian kingdoms around 180 BC 100 4.4a The Caucasian kingdoms around 85 BC, before the arrival of the Romans 103 4.4b The Caucasus under Roman and Parthian influence, around AD 220 103 4.5a The political situation in the Caucasus in AD 387 107 4.5b The Caucasian kingdoms around 650, before the Khazar–Arab power struggle 107 4.6a The new Caucasian kingdoms, around 950, before the fall of Khazaria 112 4.6b Unified Georgia, wedged between the Cumans, the Seljuks and the Byzantine Empire in 1122 112 4.7a The golden age of Georgia, around 1200 115 4.7b The Caucasus under Mongol rule, around 1300 115 4.8a Fragmented Georgia and the supremacy of the Ak-Qoyunlu in 1468 119 4.8b The new political set-up after the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab 119 4.9 The inclusion of the Caucasus in the Russian Empire between 1770 and 1878 123 4.10 The Russian administrative division of the Caucasus at the end of the nineteenth century 129 Tables 3.1 Population statistics 56 7.1 GDP growth rates 191 7.2 Origin of GDP 192 Appendix II Population statistics by ethnic group 213 viii FOREWORD The recent fighting between Russia and Georgia, which broke out in the summer of 2008, reminded the world that this region remains a potential area of dispute and conflict in the twenty-first century. Yet it is a sad fact that the world needed this reminder. Standing, as it does, at the junction of great land masses and his- toric empires, the Caucasus has for centuries been a contested land. The aston- ishing racial and linguistic diversity that characterizes the region, coupled with the Soviet legacy of ethnic displacement and highly divisive artificial borders, has made the Caucasus even more volatile and vulnerable to internal tensions and outside interference alike. Today the Caucasus is one of the most important and sensitive regions of the world, with the potential to spark conflict between the great nations that border it. Its increasing significance as a producer of, and particularly as a transit route for, oil and gas adds an extra, and highly significant, dimension to the historic great-power territorial rivalry and local ethnic tensions. It guarantees, alas, that the conflicts in the region will continue to be of global significance. They will attract outside attention because they will have ramifications far beyond the borders of the states concerned. But the region and its history are so complex that outsiders have always found it difficult to establish and comprehend the essential details. This has led in the past to seriously flawed analyses and, as a result, poorly informed policy deci- sions. Consequently, this excellent volume by Frederik Coene is most timely and welcome. Its wealth of relevant data, its great attention to detail, its balanced and straightforward description of events, and its clear and dispassionate analysis pro- vide the scholar and policy-maker with a most valuable source of information and understanding. The work will allow current and future events in the region to be placed firmly in context, to the benefit of all concerned. Christopher N. Donnelly Director, Atlantic Council of the UK ix PREFACE Dedicated to my dear friend Kureysh Nalgiyev (23.02.1972–23.09.2005) In 1999 I became involved with the Caucasus for the first time in my life. It would not only lead to a major change in my career path, it would also inflict a change on my way of thinking and my view of the world. In the following years, several visits to the region and research initiatives followed each other at a great pace. During my trips I experienced both positive moments, such as friendship and the beauty of the culture and the environment, as well as shocking events, such as the brutal assassination of Kureysh Nalgiyev, my guard and more importantly my close friend in Ingushetia.