On the historical geography of Ossetia: Medieval Tualia

The article surveys data from the “Monument to the Eristavs”, a Georgian early 15th century chronicle on the medieval upland Ossetia, inhabited by the Tuals. The toponymic information found in the chronicle (about 30 names in total) has been repeatedly commented in the literature. The etymological analyses of the medieval Tual toponymy undertaken to determine the Tuals’ ethnicity, however, have produced mixed results, with Adygs (Circassians), Vainakhs, Kartvelians, or Ossetians seen as the medieval Tuals. It is quite obvious that the authors of some studies made methodological errors. The main one is that the toponymy of the medieval Tualiya was analyzed separately from the modern Ossetic toponymy. Meanwhile, our comparison of the old toponyms with their modern counterparts shows that the population of the upland Ossetia has not changed for more than six hundred years. The ethnonym shavdvalni ‘Black Tuals’, recorded in the Georgian monument mentioned above, is very important for determining the linguistic affiliation of this population. The Ossetians still describe their fellow tribesmen who live at the water-head of the Ardon River in North Ossetia as Black Tualts (Sau tualtæ). They are contrasted against the “White Tuals” (Urs tualtæ) living at the water-head of the Liakhva River in South Ossetia. This opposition is social in nature. Since Black Tuals are mentioned when describing events that took place in the 9th century, there is a reason to believe that the Tuals spoke Ossetic already then. Etymological analysis of the rest of the toponymy of medieval Tualiya also indicates its Iranian (Ossetian) origin. The origin of only one toponym remains unclear.