About the connection of the term “moskhi” with the name of the Galgai medieval settlement of Metskhal

• Published in: Исторический журнал: научные исследования no. 3; pp. 207 - 223
• Main Author: Albogachiev, Magomed Mikhailovich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.03.2025
• ISSN: 2454-0609; 2454-0609
• DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2025.3.70847

The article examines the question of the origin of the name of the medieval Galgai settlement "Metskhal" in the Dzheyrakh gorge of Ingushetia, its connection with the name of the Moskhi people mentioned in ancient and early medieval sources, localized in the Moskhi Mountains, as well as in other areas of Transcaucasia. In the XIX century Metskhal was the center of the Metskhal Society, an ethnoterritorial group of Ingush. According to the information collected by N. G. Volkova, the settlement with this name (Metskhal) was located on the territory of Mtskheta-Mtianeti in Georgia, in the area where the Georgian geographer of the first half of the XVIII century Vakhushti Bagrationi localizes Dzurdzuketi. The purpose of the article is to show, based on the etymological analysis of the terms "Metskhal" and "moskhi", as well as the analysis of some historical, historiographical sources, that these terms are of the same root. To obtain an objective result, various sources were used in the research process, of which the main ones are the works of famous scientists G. J. Gumb, V. V. Latyshev, N. G. Volkova, Dyakonov, G. A. Melikishvili, B. B. Piotrovsky, B. K. Dalgat, local historian A. S. Suleymanov, etc. When studying this issue, the work used narrative, historical-genetic, historical-chronological, historical-comparative, etc. methods. In the course of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that the terms "Metskhal" and "Moskhi" are of the same origin, associated with the Dzurdzuk, including the society of Ortskhoev-Metskhalians who migrated from Mtskheta-Mtianeti to the northern slopes of the Central Caucasus and displaced the local Feppin kists who settled in the Jeyrakh gorge. At the same time, some of the families of these Dzurdzuk migrated further east and settled in Gula, Tsori and Merzha, where they later became known as "Gula", "Tsora" and "Merzha". In the author's opinion, the Dzurdzuki, who migrated to Mtskheta-Mtianeti from the area of their ancient residence on the territory of the Southeastern Black Sea region, could unite under the common name "meskh(oi) // metskhal(oi)". The scope of application of the results of the work includes the study of the history of the Nakh and Transcaucasian peoples. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the article shows in a more specific way the connection of the term "Moshi" with the Nakh peoples. The author outlined promising directions for further research on this issue.