Mountain Jews
Mountain Jews or Caucasus Jews, also known as Juhuro, Juvuro, Juhuri, Juwuri, Juhurim, Kavkazi Jews or Gorsky Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי־קַוְקָז Yehudey Kavkaz or יְהוּדֵי־הֶהָרִים Yehudey he-Harim; Russian: Горские евреи, romanized: Gorskie Yevrei, Azerbaijani: Dağ Yəhudiləri), are Jews of the eastern and northern Caucasus, mainly Azerbaijan, and various republics in the Russian Federation: Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. The Mountain Jews comprise Persian-speaking Jewry along with the Jews of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The Mountain Jews are the descendants of Persian Jews from Iran, and fall within the Mizrachi category of Jews. Mountain Jews took shape as a community after Qajar Iran ceded the areas in which they lived to the Russian Empire as part of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813.
джуһур Cuhuro | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 2004: 150,000–270,000 (estimated) 1970: 50,000–53,000 1959: 42,000–44,000 (estimated) 1941: 35,000 1926: 26,000 (estimated) 1897: 31,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Israel | 100,000–140,000 |
| Azerbaijan | 22,000–50,000 |
| United States | 10,000–40,000 |
| Russia | 266 (2021) |
| Austria | 220 (2012) |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew, Judeo-Tat, Russian, Azerbaijani | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Persian Jews, Georgian Jews, Bukharan Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Soviet Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions | |
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The forerunners of the Mountain Jewish community have inhabited Ancient Persia since the 5th century BCE. The language spoken by Mountain Jews, called Judeo-Tat, is an ancient Southwest Iranian language which integrates many elements of Ancient Hebrew.
It is believed that Mountain Jews reached Persia from Israel as early as the 8th century BCE. They continued to migrate east, settling in mountainous areas of the Caucasus. Mountain Jews survived numerous historical vicissitudes by settling in extremely remote and mountainous areas. They were known to be accomplished warriors and horseback riders.
Mountain Jews are distinct from Georgian Jews of the Caucasus Mountains. The two groups are culturally differentiated: they speak different languages and have many differences in customs and culture.