Alans

The Alans or Alani were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people, warlike nomadic pastoralists of mixed backgrounds, who spoke an Iranian language and shared, in a broad sense, a common culture.

The Mongol Invasions and their aftermath

In the thirteenth century, fresh invading Mongol hordes pushed the eastern Alans further south into the Caucasus, where they mixed with native Caucasian groups and successively formed three territorial entities each with different developments. Digor in the west came under Kabard and Islamic influence. Tuallag in the southernmost region became part of what is now Georgia, and Iron, the northernmost group, came under Russian rule after 1767, which strengthened Orthodox Christianity considerably. Most of these Ossetes today are Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Related Topics:
Thirteenth century - Mongol - Digor - Kabard - Islamic - Tuallag - Georgia - Iron - Russia - 1767 - Orthodox Christianity - Eastern Orthodox

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The remaining Alans speak a unique language where they remain as the Ossetes, divided between Russia and Georgia. There is an Ossetic minority in Chechnya too. Jacob Reinegg, in Description of the Caucasus, may have been the first to make this connection. He noted that the Tatars called them Edeki-Alan. Their language, Ossetic, belongs to the North Iranian language group; it is the survivor of the northeastern branch of Iranian languages known as Scytho-Sarmatian, which once included languages of the Russian steppes and Central Asia: Scythians, Sarmatians, Massagetae, Alans. Modern Ossetic has two major dialects: Digor, spoken in the western part of North Ossetia; and Iron, spoken in the rest of Ossetia. A third branch of Ossetic, Jassic, was formerly spoken in Hungary. The literary language, based on the Iron dialect was fixed by the national poet, Kosta Xetagurov (1859-1906).

Related Topics:
Ossetes - Chechnya - Tatars - Ossetic - Iranian languages - Central Asia - Scythians - Sarmatians - Massagetae - Kosta Xetagurov

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In the 4th-5th centuries they were at least partially Christianized by Byzantine missionaries of the Arian church. Islam was introduced in the 17th century through the Kabardians (an East Circassian tribe). Energetic re-Christianization was begun with increasing Russian influence after the Ossetians acknowledged Russian overlordship in 1802.

Related Topics:
4th - 5th - Arian - Islam - 17th century - Kabard - Circassia - 1802

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(Greek ??????, ???????; Chinese O-lan-na; since the 9th century they have been called As, Russ. Jasy, Georgian Ossi),

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