Aghuls

ETHNONYMS: none

Sociopolitical Organization

Each Aghul village had a village council, on which each of the three or four tukhums were represented. The council was headed by an elder. The village mullah and qadi also played an important role in local affairs. In some cases the wealthier tukhums exerted a disproportionate strong influence on village government.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Like their neighbors the Kaitaks, the Aghuls were converted to Sunni Islam at a fairly early date, subsequent to the Arab conquest of the eighth century.

Bibliography

"Aguly" (Aghuls) (1960). In Narody Kavkaza (The peoples of the Caucasus), edited by M. O. Kosven et al. Vol. 1, 529-536. Moscow: Akademiia Nauk.

Akiner, Shirin (1986). Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union: An Historical and Statistical Handbook. 2nd ed., 171-175. London: KPI.

Bennigsen, Alexandre, and S. Enders Wimbush (1986). Muslims of the Soviet Empire: A Guide, 169. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

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