‘Salam. Do you want to buy jorab?’
Little Aynur holds out a pair of colourful hand-woven wool socks ‘It is only for 20 Manat,’ she tells me. Temperatures are already low, high in the mountains, but with the first snowfall of the season, it has become colder. Covered in woollen clothes with a headscarf, similar jorab and sandals, the little girl is utilising the day off from school to sell woollen socks that her mother and grandmother knit. For a remote village, Aynur, a seventh grader, is quite adept at conversing in English and declines to oblige me for a photograph.
I am in the village of Xinaliq (pronounced Khinalig), in the Qusar district of Azerbaijan. Close to the Russian border, at 2200 m above sea level, Khinalig is the highest, most remote and isolated village in the Greater Caucasus Mountains of Azerbaijan with a population of about 2000 indigenous people. Mostly, sheepherders, the villagers protect their ethnicity and speak a dialect that is very distinct from Azerbaijani.
As I move along the narrow pathway up the slope, squishing through the fluffy snow, I see small and big stone houses stacked along the slope of the mountain. An old woman bent from age sits sunning herself, too weary to move. Another woman, busy knitting quickly, disappears behind a colourful hand-woven woollen curtain as another visitor and I make our way past her home.
The women of Khinalig have an intriguing lineage. Some archaeological discoveries suggest them to be the descendants of the women warriors of the Amazon tribe of Greek mythology. Archaeologists have recounted many stories by the locals who told them, ‘Our grandmothers used to ride and fight with bows and arrows while men were away with sheep’. Certain ancient graves discovered in Khinalig had remains of women with swords and arrows buried alongside, forcing the archaeologists to rethink whether Amazon warrior women were indeed real. The women now, however, weave and knit colourful carpets, shawls and woollen socks, unique to the region, from sheep wool. In the flowering season, they make honey and collect and prepare curing herbs.
With the days of wars now a distant memory, the history is preserved in a fort-like structure that functions as a Historical Ethnographic Museum managed by the villagers. The village, believed to have existed since the Bronze Age, has artefacts like ancient weapons, terracotta pottery, leather footwear, cooking utensils, leather ornaments, coins, riding gear and other historical finds from the region displayed in the small museum.
The Khinalig people have preserved their rites, rituals and traditions through centuries. Before the Islamic influence, the people were followers of Zoroastrian beliefs and revered fire. Their ceremonies, weddings and festivities continue in olden ways as passed down from one generation to another.
A unique cultural practice that continues even today is the transhumance along the same route for generations. The sheepherders move the livestock along a mountainous path to warmer pastures during the peak winters and back to the village high up in the mountains during summers to protect their animals from harsh weather conditions and take advantage of seasonal grazing areas. They move with their mountain dogs, mules and sheep, leaving the families in the village. This ancient established 200 km long route of transhumance from Khinalig to the plains of Absheron and Hajiqabul known as ‘KöçYolu’, has now been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 18th September 2023.
The village and its cultural significance are protected by the Azerbaijani government. To provide logistic and infrastructural support without compromising historical identity, the village underwent some renovation a few years ago. Tin roofs replaced some broken roofs and street signs were added to the village. A school was also established.
As I return from the village, my car comes to an abrupt halt. I witness a large herd of sheep, the shepherd with his dog and a mule laden with things required for a long travel, to cross over the snow-covered road…the last of the few herdsmen and their flock migrating before snowfall increases.
Time seems to have frozen in this part of Azerbaijan.
By Shoma Abhyankar
