ИЗВЕСТИЯ СОИГСИ

The article by a Jesuit missionary in the Ottoman Empire Antoine Poidebard, which was published originally in 1907, contains observations and evidence concerning the North Caucasian, namely Ossetian, community settled in the Tokat region of Central Anatolia. The most valuable feature of this publication appears to be the text of an Ossetian song, obviously reminiscent of the “Saghæstæ” (“Thoughts”) by Temirbolat Mamsurov. Comparison of the two verses reveals both multiple coincidences and indisputable discrepancies between them along with the distinctly lesser completeness of the plot of the newly published version in whole. Rather interesting is Poidebard’s indication that the poem has been created by a person named Murad Bey, who, in our opinion, is identical to T. Mamsurov. Besides, noteworthy is the wedding ceremony of the member of the local princely family comprising a lot of elements characteristic of the model traditional wedding, as well as a number of other socio-cultural details: from musical and choreographic preferences of local residents to the specificity of inter-class relations within the North Caucasian immigrant groups. The material in question is currently one of the most significant and informative written sources to shed light on the past of the Ossetian diaspora in the Middle East.

Keywords: Ottoman Anatolia, Tokat, Jesuit missionaries, North Caucasian immigrants, Temirbolat Mamsurov, Ossetian song, traditional culture, wedding ceremony.

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