Erzi (; ) is a medieval village (aul) in the Dzheyrakhsky District of Ingushetia, Russia, in the North Caucasus. The village's complex of Ingush towers is one of the principal historical monuments in the Erzi Nature Reserve, which takes its name from the settlement.
Erzi forms part of the Olgeti rural settlement, and also lies within the Dzheyrakh-Assa State Historical, Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve, where it is under state protection.
Nomenclature The word "Erzi" () translates from the Ingush as 'eagle'. According to Ingush folklore, Erzi was founded on a site where there was once an eagle's nest.
Geography Erzi is located within the Erzi Nature Reserve, in western Ingushetia, in the North Caucasus of southern Russia. The settlement lies at an elevation of approximately on the right bank of the Armkhi River, at the southern end of a spur of Mount Dzharlam.
Nearby tower settlements include Hamishke and Koshk to the north, Kerbite to the southeast, Lyazhgi to the west, and Angeti to the east.
History The settlement is traditionally considered to have been founded by Prince Kist, while his son Cha is credited with building its fortified towers.Akhriev, Ch. E. (1875). "Ингуши. Их предания, верования и поверья" [Ingush. Their legends, beliefs and beliefs]. Сборник сведений о кавказских горцах [Collection of information about the Caucasian highlanders] (in Russian) (8th ed.). Tiflis. pp. 1–40. His descendants formed the Oartskhoy clan, whose branches include several influential Ingush families, notably the Yandievs, Mamilovs, and Aldaganovs. The name Oartskhoy combines the name of the settlement, Erzi, with the suffix -khoy (meaning 'of') and thus translates as 'of Erzi'. Other sources attribute the establishment of Erzi to Yand,Г. Д. Чиковани, ЧИЭЭ, 1979, ТЕТр. II, 12., Стр. 127 progenitor of the Yandiev family, the 'principal family‘Baddeley, John F. (1940). The Rugged Flanks of Caucasus. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press: Humphrey Milford. p. 209 of Erzi, who kept guard there and took tribute for passage.И.А. Дахкильгов, Антология ингушского фольклора, т. 7 с. 66–67
During the pre-Islamic period, a strong cultural and religious relationship existed with the neighbouring tower complexes Tyarsh and Shoan.ИСХОДНЫЕ ФУНКЦИИ, СЕМАНТИКА И АНАЛОГИИ БОГА ДЯЛА В РЕЛИГИОЗНЫХ ВОЗЗРЕНИЯХ ИНГУШЕЙ АКИЕВА П. Х.
Erzi was home to several Ingush families, territorially attributed to the Fyappin, Metskhalin or Kistin society.
Ethnographic accounts from Erzi describe its inhabitants as engaging in raids, during which captives were taken and held for ransom. Those who were not ransomed became slaves of their captors or were sold.Робакидзе, А. И. (ed.). Кавказский этнографический сборник. Вып. II: Очерки этнографии горной Ингушетии. Тбилиси: Институт истории, археологии и этнографии им. И. Джавахишвили АН Грузинской ССР, 1968, pp. 138–139.
On May 14, 1733, Bodscha and Karadscha Yandiev, swore an oath of allegiance to Vakhtang VI of Kartli.
On January 8, 1811, Erzi became part of the Russian Empire through an agreement signed by Khasa and Itar Yandiev.В январе 1811 года от генерала Тормасова к генералу Румянцеву. Акты К.А.К., т.4, стр. 904
In 1931, a rare and very important find was made in the village of Erzi: a bronze censer in the shape of an eagle, known as Suleyman's Eagle, though some historians believe it be a detail of an ancient military standard. It was made in the 8th century (year 189 of the Hijri calendar) in the Arab Caliphate. In 1936 the statue was relocated to St. Petersburg, where it is exhibited in the Hall of the Culture and Art of the Hermitage Museum.
In 2012–2015 the tower complex was reconstructed. It has 8 combat, 2 semi-combat, 47 residential towers, 1 temple, and over 20 burial grounds, including the mausoleum of the famous tower builder Yand.
In 2019, carbon dating of a tower at Erzi indicated that it was constructed between 1683 and 1723.
In literature Erzi serves as the real-world basis for the village of "Arzia" in the 1883 novel The Patricide by the classic Georgian writer Alexander Kazbegi. In the text, the settlement is located beyond the Gvirgala (Gveleti) mountain pass near the Khde gorge and is described as being inhabited by "Kistins".
In the plot, Arzia serves as a safe haven for the protagonists. A local resident named Parcho and his family shelter the fugitives Koba and Vepkhia after their escape from a Russian Cossack outpost, while a local healer tends to the wounded Iago until he is fit to continue his journey.
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References
Bibliography Russian sources