Kubachi Aul
Kubachi Aul is one of the largest traditional centers in the Caucasus for artistic metalworking, as well as stone and wood carving.
In the 6th-15th centuries, the aul was the center of the independent region of Zirikhgeran, whose inhabitants were known as zirikhgeran (from the Persian chain mail). Since the 15th century, the inhabitants have been known under the Turkic name Kubachi with the same meaning.
Around 1305, the villagers convert to Islam. On the eve of Islamization, Zirikhgeran was obviously going through a political crisis. According to legend, there was a split among the inhabitants of the main village of Zirikhgeran, with a smaller part of the inhabitants founding the village of Ashty. Soon a part of the Zirikhgerans fell away from the main village and founded the village of Shiri. In the XIII-XIV centuries, the fortress walls around Zirichgeran with towers-forts were erected, the remains of which have survived to our days.
It is situated at a height of 1,750 meters. Its oldest part looks like a typical mountain aul: located on a steep slope, houses with beautiful terraces (usually 2-3 stories, but sometimes even 5-6 stories) are molded onto each other, forming a chaotic maze of narrow passages, staircases, and galleries. The flat roofs of the lower houses very often serve as patios of the upper houses, with all the neighbors living in peace and full consent. The streets are narrow, and there are still many old buildings and ancient towers, and architecturally designed springs for water.
Around the village, there are many old tombstones covered with magnificent ornamental motifs and narrative compositions. These are monuments to the medieval culture of the Kubachi.
The 17th-century mosque is situated in the lower part of the village. Since ancient times, Kubachi masters have forged magnificent swords, sabers, and daggers, and have produced all kinds of armor, including heavy and light chain armor. The secrets of craftsmanship were passed along in families. Entire dynasties were formed, many of which have survived to the present. Kubachi art reached a high degree of excellence already in the 13th-15th centuries. Their chain armor, helmets, swords, knives, copper utensils, and women’s jewelry were famous far beyond the borders of the Caucasus and Persia.
In 1924, a jeweler guild was established. In 1960, it was transformed into an art factory, becoming the largest enterprise of folk arts and crafts, and a successor to the old masters. It mainly manufactured women’s jewelry (earrings, bracelets, rings), as well as urban consumer goods (cigarette cases, spoons, elegant silverware). Of all the metalworking, only the manufacturing of daggers and swords has been preserved. Many Kubachi works have repeatedly received awards at national and international exhibitions, and some masters have received the State Prize.
Unique works of Kubachi art are part of collections of major museums in Russia and abroad, including the State Historical Museum and the Russian Museum of Decorative and Applied Folk Art (Moscow), the Louvre (Paris), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).
Kubachins proudly say that the two-horned helmet of Iskander Zulkurnaya (this is how mountaineers called Alexander the Great) was fashioned by them. The sword given to Mstislav and the shield of Alexander Nevsky had no equals.
I have always wanted to go there but never made time for it when I lived in Dagestan. It’s still on my wishlist – some day I will return to Dagestan just in order to see those beautiful places