The Dvals (Georgian: დვალები, Dvalebi; Ossetian: Туалтæ, romanized: Twaltæ) were a ethnographic group of Georgians.[1][2] their lands lying on both sides of the central Greater Caucasus mountains, somewhere between the Darial and Mamison gorges. This historic territory mostly covers the north of Kartli, parts of the Racha and Khevi regions in Georgia and south of Ossetia in Russia.
The name of the Dvals (Georgian: დვალნი, Dvalni) is found in old Georgian annals. Their land was called Dvaleti (დვალეთი. Dvalet`i) after them.
The ethnonym survived to modern times as "Twal" and "Urs-Twal" (Ossetian: Урстуалтæ meaning "white Twals"). The Georgian surname Dvali (დვალი), Dvalishvili (დვალიშვილი), Dvalidze(დვალიძე) and Ossetian Tuallagov/Twallægtæ also come from the name Dvals.[3][4]
When the Mongols destroyed the Alanian kingdom in the Northern Caucasus in the 13th–14th centuries, the Ossetes migrated across the Caucasus mountains. In a part of Dvaletia they formed their community called Tualläg. The Dvals were pushed southward and, as a result, the process of their assimilation into the Georgians and Ossetes accelerated. By the early 18th century it was complete. The term Dvaleti retained only a geographic meaning, narrowed to refer solely to the area around the Kudaro valley in the west (modern-day Java district in South Ossetia/Shida Kartli).
Members of the Dvali last name from Georgia belong to G-M201 haplogroup.[5]
There are different theories about the Dvals origins.
Throughout the history of Georgian statehood, even after its inclusion into the Russian Empire, Dvaleti had always been considered an integral part of Kartli
From the 15th century on Ossetians start to settle in Dvaleti province, located in the Northern part of the main Caucasus Range. This continued throughout the 16th century, while in the 17th century, assimilation of the local Georgian ethnic group of Dvalians draws to its end. Before the settlement of Ossetians in Dvaleti, a major part of the Dvalians had migrated to different parts of Georgia: Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Imereti, Racha.[6]
Russia annexed Kartli-Kakheti in 1801 along with Dvaleti. In 1858 Dvaleti was administratively detached from Tiflis Governorate, and attached to the Tersky district of Russia.[6]
Vakhushti Bagrationi pointed out that “the language they speak is old, Dvalian, but presently they use Ossetian as if it were their native tongue”.[7] V. Gamrekeli regarded Dvalians Vainakhs, Kartvelian Vainakhs to be more exact. V. Gamrekeli believed that the Kartization of the Dvalians occurred in the 7th century, when the Kartlian population, fatigued by the Arab rule, had migrated. The author later changed his views,[6] and in an article published in Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia he recognized the Dvalians as Kartvelian tribes, namely Zans.[6] Some scholars point that they were not exactly Zan but represented one the Kartvelian languages. The last of the Georgian authors to address the issue of Dvalian origins was B. Gamkrelidze, who arrived at the conclusion that “Dvaleti, from ancient times, culturally, and administratively had always been an integral part of the Georgian world″.[6]
Another detail to prove their Kartvelian origin is the absence of crypts in Dvaleti.[6] Crypts were encountered only in Chechnya and Ingushetia,[8] while Chechens and Ingush were recognized as skillful builders and used to build the crypts not only in their native lands but in neighbouring Ossetia as well.[9] It is suggested that if the Dvalians had been related to the Vainakhs, the culture of crypt building would have existed among them as well.
According to a number of historians and linguists, the Dvals probably spoke a Nakh language.[10][11][12][13][14] Gamrekeli (a Georgian historian) provides the typical version of the Nakh theory, stating that the Dvals had a language clearly distinct from that of the Ossetes (who eventually migrated onto their land) and akin (but not equivalent to) to the Vainakh languages, but he later changed his view as he saw more arguments backing up the theory of Dvals being Georgian mountaineers[3]
Backing the theory that the Dvals were Nakh are numerous sources.
Another theory is that the Dvals were an Ossetian speaking people.[15][16][17] According to this, they were among first Ossetes to settle in the southern Caucasus.[15][16][18] Evidence for the Ossetian theory also draws from various elements:
The most prominent Dvals were, perhaps, the 11th–13th calligraphers – John, Michael, Stephen, and George – who worked at various Georgian Orthodox monasteries abroad, chiefly in Jerusalem and at the Mount Athos, and created several fine examples of old Georgian manuscripts, e.g. The Months and The Vitae of St Basil (John the Dval, circa 1055), and the so-called Labechini Gospels (George the Dval, 13th century). Another famous Dval calligrapher was Vola Tliag (Ossetian: Vola Tliag meaning "Vola from Tli"[21]) who worked over Kapelle of Nuzal.[21]
The Orthodox church venerates also the memory of St Nicholas of Dvaletia, a Dval monk from the Georgian monastery at Jerusalem, who was martyred, on October 19, 1314, at the order of Amir Denghiz for having preached Christianity.[22] He was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.