The Raven's Eye: Introducing the Godoberi

Dagestan is the Southernmost Republic of the Russia Federation. It borders the republics of Chechnya and Stavropol Krai to the Northwest, Kalmykia to the North, the country of Azerbaijan to the South, and the country of Georgia to the Southwest. Its area is over 31,000 square feet – or three-quarters the size of South Dakota in the US.

The Godoberi are a subgroup of the Avar people. In fact, they weren’t recognized as a unique people group until 1926 – when finally recorded as Godoberi in a census.[1] This is just one example of a complex self-identity. The Godoberi are a distinct people group, separate from all others. However, since they have a relation to the large Avar people, they also carry their identity. They live in a region very distinct from the rest of Russia, therefore they carry a Dagestan/North Caucasus general identity. On top of this, they are a part of Russia – and especially because of the Soviet Union, carry a Russian influenced identity, but they are not Russian.

The Godoberi’s self-call themselves Gibdidi (гъибдиди) – “the Raven’s eye”. Legend has it that their name comes from their early settlers who, being skilled with the bow and arrow, could hit the eye of a raven in full flight.

“Thus, according to legend, the word 'godoberi' comes from the Avar language: giedo – 'raven' and ber – 'eye.'"[2]

As a small minority they number 3,000-4,000, while Dagestan’s total population is three million. Even in their native Dagestan, it’s not necessarily a well known nation.[3] The Godoberi mountain villages are located on the Western border of Dagestan, bordering Chechnya. They have three villages just Southwest of Botlik named Ziberkhali, Beledi, and Godoberi (the central village region). These villages sit high in elevation, about 70 miles (as the crow flies) from the Caspian Sea coastline. The other village is further north, sitting Northwest of Khasavyurt in a plains area, called Terechnoe.

The Andi-Koisu River Basin is the region where the southern Godoberi villages are located. It was first mentioned by ancient Greeks and Romans. The peoples in this region have possessed good trade relations throughout their history. The Godoberi district within the region is Botlikh. It is one of the forty-one districts within Dagestan.

In the 16th Century, the Godoberi formed essentially their own functioning free community. This community chose an elder and judges to rule over them. On 1806, they came under Russian rule with the rest of Dagestan. However, only in the 1860s was the ruling truly asserted. Great opportunities came with the Russian rule, but so did new suppression.[4]

The Godoberi, along with the rest of the Caucasus peoples, settled in the North Caucasus Mountains at least 2,500 years ago, by 500 B.C. One known origin root is their descent from Ancient Horrites of the Middle East. In fact, the Caucasus people have more connections to ancient Middle Eastern extinct languages than anywhere else. Their skin and hair color tends to be darker than Northern Russians. They look more like Southern Europeans such as Italians and Greeks.

The history of the Avar people may go back to the Rouran Khaganate of Mongolia from the 4th-6th Century. They were a fierce nomadic people who essentially followed the path of the Hun Dynasty before them. Most scholars see the Avar people as successors of the Huns, for they would settle into the former Dynasties land and quickly go to battle.[5]

In his famous military handbook Strategikon, the Byzantine emperor Maurice

(reigned 582-602) aptly described the battle style of the Avars, whom he

compared to the Huns, as follows: `they prefer battles fought at long range,

ambushes, encircling their adversaries, simulated retreats and sudden returns,

and wedge-shaped formations...When they make their enemies take to flight,

they are not content, as the Persians and the Romans, and other peoples, with

pursuing them a reasonable distance and plundering their goods, but they do

not let up at all until they have achieved the complete destruction of their

enemies...If the battle turns out well, do not be hasty in pursuing the enemy or

behave carelessly. For this nation [the steppe nomads] does not, as other do,

give up the struggle when worsened in the first battle. But until their strength

gives out, they try all sorts of ways to assail their enemies’.[6]

Into the six Century they were establishing themselves on the edges of China, but so-called Western Turks were able to overcome them. This led to their claims of political refugee status and seeking acceptance under the Roman Empire’s Justinian I. He accepted their plea, and hired them to defeat other tribes in the region on behalf of the Roman Empire. They fought very successfully and valiantly, but eventually this contract was denied under Justinian II. They instead chose to fight as allies of the Lombards to defeat the Gepids in Pannonia. Avars subsequently took over the area and forced out the Lombards. It was at this time they took the opportunity to establish an empire for themselves under their king Bayan I.[7]

The Avars eventually succeeded in establishing the Avar Khaganate, which

encompassed a territory corresponding roughly to modern-day Austria,

Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria down to and including parts of Turkey. The

departure of the Lombards for Italy in 568 CE removed another hostile people

from Pannonia, enabling Bayan I to expand his territories with relative ease and

found the empire which lasted until 796 CE, when the Avars were conquered by

the Franks under Charlemagne.[8]

The Charlemagne defeat was the end of their reign, which had lasted 127 years. But their legacy lives on, as they “were among the fiercest mounted warriors in history”[9]. In fact, the Avar people had formidable compliments from other conquerers: “The Arabs, who had overrun the Persian Empire in a mere ten years and would go on to phenomenal conquests elsewhere, were stunned by the truculence [aggressive defiance] of the mountaineers (emphasis mine)”[10] However, their dependence on their neighbors must be noted. Nonetheless their presence was always felt wherever they went, for they always greatly influenced every land they entered, regularly driving peoples to other lands as few could match them in battle.[11]

What we have is a robust and strong mountain people, rooted with a drive and personality similar to the Hun Dynasty. They have stood the test of time. Including recent suppression for many decades under the Soviet Union. You won’t find a more battle tested people group on the face of the earth. The Godoberi are a strong and robust people of the mountains. They pridefully hold to their distinct identity and traditions. They have persevered through much suffering, war, and loss. Their story is uniquely intricate, powerful, and totally worth sharing. From their warm hospitality to their intense strength, they offer the world a unique beauty.

Footnotes

[1] "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire," EKI.ee - Eesti Keele Instituut, accessed February 26, 2019, https://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/godoberis.shtml. [2] http://www.etnosy.ru/node/637 [3] https://nasledie-sela.ru/places/DAG/1737/5135/ [4] “The Red Book”. [5] Joshua J. Mark, "Avars," Ancient History Encyclopedia, last modified December 17, 2014, https://www.ancient.eu/Avars/. [6] Ibid - Quote - Baumer, C. The History of Central Asia: Volume I. (I.B. Tauris, London, 2012). [7] Ibid. [8] Ibid. [9] Ibid. [10] Bruce W. Robert and Robert B. Ware, Dagestan: Russian Hegemony and Islamic Resistance in the North Caucasus: Russian Hegemony and Islamic Resistance in the North Caucasus (London: Routledge, 2014), 7. [11] Ibid, 7.