Rutuls - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The main occupations are stockbreeding (cattle and sheep) and agriculture (spring and winter wheat, rye, barley, millet, spelt). Sheep raising in the second part of the nineteenth century was quite primitive: the livestock were simply left outside throughout the year, and the sheep received no additional food for the winter. Annual drives from summer pastures to winter ones and back led to heavy losses of animals owing to lack of food and water, overcrowded roads, and forced stops on the way. The sheep are still driven to pasture today, but conditions are better: there are special schedules so as not to overcrowd the paths, veterinary stations, additional pastures, and a system of special transportation for young and tired animals. Warm housing for sheep and herdsmen is built in winter pastures. In bad weather sheep get an additional food supply. The agricultural system was also primitive: single-crop fields, natural fertilizers, wooden plows with metal shares, and sickles. Now the plowing area has been increased through the use of former winter pastures. Fruit and vegetable gardening is developing, which is an innovation for the Rutuls.

Clothing. Traditional clothing belongs to the general Lezghian type of clothing. Men wore a tuniclike shirt ( ukhun ) with a rounded decorated neckline and a vertical cut in front and breeches of moderate width ( badu ). Over the shirt a short narrow-waisted beshmet (quilted jacket) was worn. Festive clothes included a cherkeska of a northern Caucasian type (a caftanlike coat, narrow-waisted with a flaring lower part), decorated with cartridgelike silver casings that once held a measure of powder for the old muskets ( gazïr ) and worn over the beshmet. The headdress was a tall sheepskin hat ( barmah ) made of shaggy wool sheepskin, similar to the Caucasian papakha; the dress footwear ( kyamashbïr ), high boots with upturned toes, was of felt made of multicolored woolen threads. The everyday shoes were made of one piece of leather. In colder weather one wore an uncovered sheepskin coat with sleeves ( qqabachey ), of a cut similar to that of a beshmet. During leisure time men of all ages wore a large sheepskin coat with long false sleeves ( gïtimat ). A special burka -style cloak ( lit), which had the form of a half-circle, served for traveling. The professional shepherd's clothing was a felt tuniclike cloak ( chopuz ). The everyday clothes of a Rutul woman consisted of a tuniclike shirt-dress (ukhun) and of trousers of middle width ( vakhchag ). In the neighboring Azerbaijani settlements women wore wide trousers ( kvyakike ). The overcoat ( valzhag ) was open in front without buttons—long in the main Rutul territory and short, down to the thighs, on the borders with Azerbaijan. In the second case, the beshmet, which had the form of a loose shirt beneath the waist, was worn with a wide long skirt. In cold weather women wore a waisted sheepskin overcoat of the same type as the men's qqabachey and felt high boots with upturned toes (which differed from the men's boots only in color). On the head they wore a special hairnet ( qqatsigen ) and scarf folded in the form of a triangle. Silver jewelry was an important component of women's dress. Now both men and women wear European-style clothes, which have largely supplanted traditional clothing. Only some kinds of traditional wear are used by the older generation (sheepskin hats, women's scarves, and sheepskin coats).

Food. The traditional foods are meat, dairy products, and flour-based dishes. Meat was eaten fresh, dried, and as sausages for winter. Milk was preserved as butter, brïinza (sheep's milk cheese), and cottage cheese. Many herbs and wild edible grasses were dried. In everyday meals dumplings ( khinkal ) of different sizes were served as were pieces of pastry boiled in meat broth and served with meat and broth or with butter and cottage cheese. Other dishes include porridges made of flour and of grain and pies and pasties with meat, cottage cheese, different sorts of grain, and herbs. Bread was made both with and without yeast. For weddings a slightly alcoholic beverage, khyan, was served, a beerlike drink common to all Daghestan. It was prepared from flour ground from wheat grains and young sprouts with the addition of ground oats. These were poured into cold boiled water, and then allowed to ferment naturally. The ritual food consisted of millet porridge ( tabag ), oat porridge ( kharegvay ), large pies with liver covering ( vichvichima ), and large-loaf bread ( khïv ). Modern-day cuisine includes traditional dishes with additions from urban food. The diet is enriched with fruit, vegetables, and herbs, both fresh and canned.

Industrial Arts. Traditional crafts include pottery and the manufacturing of leather footwear and different wool-based goods (cloth, felt, carpets, ornamented socks, knitted footwear). There were also smiths, millers, masons, shoemakers, and silver jewelers. At present carpets and ornamented socks are produced commercially.

Trade. There existed a barter system of trade with a special system for measuring weight, length, and volume. After the second half of the nineteenth century trade connections grew, both with neighboring communities and among the Rutuls. At markets in Nukha, Akhtakh, and Kazikumukh, the products of animal husbandry were sold, and bread, fruit, confectionery, and factory-made and handmade goods were bought. In 1892 the first weekly market in Rutulia was opened. Trade operations were carried out in small shops owned by Rutuls and Jews.

Division of Labor. Labor in the family was distributed according to age and gender. The most labor-intensive work (sheepherding, plowing, sowing, haying, repairing agricultural implements) was reserved for men. Women were responsible for care of the cattle, dairy production, weeding, reaping, wool working, knitting, and weaving. Children and teenagers participated in all kinds of tasks, helping and acquiring experience. Girls assisted in domestic work and in raising younger children.

Land Tenure. There were several forms of land ownership: private (absolute majority of lands), communal, and mosque ( waqf ). Part of the private land (pasture slopes and plow land) was possessed by begs. Another part, comprising small pieces of land (plow lands, some of the hay fields), belonged to free Rutulians. Communal property consisted of valley and mountain pastures and some of the hay lands. Conflicts connected with land ownership were constant in relations between poor and well-to-do Rutulians. In Soviet times collective farms (kolkhoz and later sovkhoz) were formed.