Lezgins

ETHNONYMS: Self-designation: Lezgi (pl., Lezgiar)

Marriage and Family

Most Lezgin marriages were within the clan even though clan exogamy was allowed. Families traditionally arranged marriages (the elder women were the most important in these decisions). The groom's family paid a bride-price ( kalïm ) . This custom is still followed in some areas but is becoming rarer, and the kalïm is now more of a symbolic payment.

Bibliography

Akiner, Shirin (1986). Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union: An Historical and Statistical Handbook. 2nd ed., 138-143. London: KPI.

Bennigsen, Alexandre (1967). "The Problem of Bilingualism and Assimilation in the North Caucasus." Central Asian Review 15(3):205-211.

Bennigsen, Alexandre, and S. Enders Wimbush (1986). Muslims of the Soviet Empire: A Guide, 168. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Geiger, Bernhard, et al. (1959). Peoples and Languages of the Caucasus . The Hague: Mouton.

Wixman, Ronald (1980). Language Aspects of Ethnic Patterns and Processes in the North Caucasus. University of Chicago Department of Geography Research Paper no. 191.

Wixman, Ronald (1984). "Daghestanis." In The Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey. 2nd ed., edited by Richard V. Weekes, 212-219. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

RONALD WIXMAN