OSSETIA AND THE OSSETIANS IN THE UNPUBLISHED WORK OF ROSTOM BEK YERZNKYANTS "THE WANDERER OF DAGESTAN" (1837)
This article is devoted to the identification, translation and introduction into scientific circulation of the Armenian written source of the 19th century. about the Alans/Oses, as well as the interpretation of the information contained therein. The subject of the study was the text of the unpublished diary of Rostom Bek Yerznkyants "Wanderer of Dagestan", written in 1837 and which has evaded the attention of researchers so far. The specified source, which is published for the first time in this article, was found in the collection of the Museum of Literature and Art. Yeghishe Charents. The information provided in it makes it possible to clarify not only the ethno-confessional map of the Caucasus in the 19th century, but also to trace changes in the subsequent period. The published source also provides information about the peoples of the Caucasus, their way of life, crafts, clothing, religion, their habitats, which allow us to regard it as as very important for identifying the historical context of the area of residence, of the Alans-Oses as well. This fact allows us to consider this text as a unique ethnographic source of the first half of the 19th century. The Caucasus as a region with a complex landscape, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, due to its geographical specifics, has become a unique area of ethnic diversity, the formation of numerous peoples and languages. The relevance of this study is accounted by the growing acuteness of the problem of correlating the Alanian heritage with specific peoples of our time who lay claim to it. It should be recognized that the unfolding struggle for the Alanian heritage also has a positive potential. It revived the research thought and the search for truth in Ossetia. The novelty of the study lies in the involvement into scientific circulation of a previously unpublished most valuable written source.