Women’s initiative in the choice of marriage partner in traditional Dagestani society (XIX - early XX centuries.)

The article highlights the problems relating to marriage initiatives of women in traditional Dagestan society. The work has an interdisciplinary character; it is written at the junction of anthropology and history. Taking into consideration that in traditional Dagestan society marriage relations had a patriarchal nature, manifestation of initiative by a woman in the choice of her husband of course does not fit the stereotype of a Caucasian woman and is an evidence of this archaic practice. Comparative ethnography regarding women's initiatives in the marriage choice gives diverse points of view. Most researchers explain these practices as the communities’ care about women and their desire to regulate marriage relations in rural endogamy. In the opinion of pre-revolutionary researchers, these customs are explained as a consequence of the demographic situation after the Caucasian War, as a result of the imbalance between men and women. Based on the analysis of the sources, the author comes to the conclusion that manifestation of a woman’s initiative in choosing her marriage partner is an archaic relic of the matriarchy epoch as well as a result of objective historical realities. The described customs and rituals were common in the most part of Dagestan if not in all Dagestan, and their echoes were recorded by researchers till the early XIX century.