We see the
language unity problem which is the most important problem in Turan unity. It has always
been the primanry problem to establish a language union in Daghestan where many different
languages are spoken. Despite the fact that Russian is the common language today,
researches show the Daghestan languages have tented to become a union around Turkish.
However, this unification sould not be considered as disappearance of the other languages.
It is meant by this unification that Turkish becomes a common language among Daghestan
people for communication. For example, I.Zahar, a Russian who visited Sheikh Shamil in
1860 when he was in exile in Kaluga, tells in his memories that Sheikh Shamil and his Avar
entourage spoke Azeri Turkish, and also communicate in talked with some Russian soldiers
with Khazan Turkish origin. On the other hand, many writers from various Daghestan tribes
gave their works in Turkish until soviet system; among them is, for example, Mirza Hasan
Efendi Alkadari, the writer of a famous work: “Âsâr-ı Dağıstan”. After 1917
Russian revolution, both within the national country in Daghestan and in Circassia,
Chechen, Ingush, Ossetia, Balkhar, Karachay and Nogay countries, it was accepted that
education would be in native language at primary schools and in Turkish from middle school
and on. Even in Daghestan where local language was Turkish, Istanbul Dialect of Ottoman
Turkish was accepted as the official language of the country. These are some evidents for
this process that Turkish had become a common language amoun Daghestan people for
communication, as mentioned above. Turkish kept
its place in Daghestan until 1930. In this year, Russian was accepted as an official
language. Though still being a common langugage between tribes, education in Turkish could
only be done in places where Turks lived. This process of being a common language in
Daghestan is expected to get speed after the collapse of soviet system which caused
Turkish got more importance again with Turkish Republics’ emerges and Russian Federation
went into a more democratic system. Today there are more hundred Turkish schools in big
cities like Derbent, Mohaccakel of Daghestan as well as other settlement places in all
Turkish Republics, to which it can only be reached by plane in winter time. They
will of course contribute much to this abovementioned process.
Arabic also had an important place in Daghestan.
After Islam, there had been a great interest against Arabic, and Arabic alphabet became
the common alphabet amoun Daghestan countries. As told above, Arabic had a function as a
language of literature and science from 7th century to 1917.
When we came to the beginning of 19th
century, we see that almost every village in Daghestan has mescids (little mosque) and
schools which also had rich libraries with books and other works in Arabic, Turkish,
Persian and other native Daghestan languages.
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