Kumyks - Kinship

Kinship Groups. Long before the nineteenth century the Kumyk clan (called tukhum in the northern Caucasus, taipa, qavum, or fins in Kumyk) underwent profound changes, although tukhum relations continued to play a significant role in later periods. Relatives in the paternal line were part of the tukhum only as far as the third degree (normally 100 to 150 persons); the degree of kinship had great significance. There were specific terms for (patrilateral) first cousins of either gender ( uzuqariler ), second cousins ( qariyanlar ), and their children ( ariyanlar ), whereas all more distant relatives were simply called by a generic term ( qardashlar or tukhumlar ). Nonkin ties also played a significant role, especially those involving the rearing of children in another house or mutual relations between guests. The tukhum was endogamous. In the nineteenth century it was not the entire tukhum but a subgroup of closely related families that played the primary role in kinship relations; eventually rule by the elders was replaced by the rule of a wealthy upper tier, although the elders continued to have a significant place in kindred and council. Today tukhum relations have weakened considerably, although their maintenance, particularly among close relatives, is considered to be good sense and a matter of honor.