Marshua Kavkas

Zikr Ritual – Prayers by women of the Pankisi canyon

Marshua Kavkaz, “No more war! Peace to the world”, is the motto of the organisation established by the Kist women from the Pankisi Gorge in eastern Georgia. These women sing and pray since singing, tiredness and sweat purify their sins and generate the energy necessary to confront challenges.

According to Makvala Margoshvili, leader of the female Sufi brotherhood of Kadrija, a lot of challenges are still ahead of her and the other Hadjists (the term derived from the name of Kunta Hadji Kishiev, the founder of the brotherhood). They wish to promote Kist culture, draw people’s attention to the plight of the Caucasus and to prove their people are not terrorists or savages as they are often portrayed in Russian and Europe.

The Hadjist group performed at the 2009 Brave festival. They belong to the largest Pankisi ethnic group – the Kists. Their ancestors, the Maysts and the Melkhs, originated from the largest Chechen clans, and began arriving in Panksis from what is now Chechnya and Ingushetia in the late 18th century. Legend has it that this migration was because of a few boys whose sheep lost their way in the Caucasian mountains. The shepherds father’s ventured in the dense Georgian forests in search of their sons. When they needed to rest, they stuck their sticks into the ground and fell asleep. In the morning they found a spring spurting water in the place where they had slept, and that the swallows had already built nests on the tops of their sticks. The Maysts thought this was a sign from God and brought their families from Chechnya to settle down in Georgia. They were followed by many different groups: Chechens, exiles, Ingushetians escaping from the czar’s army. Later migrants came here for freedom of worship – some of them combine Christianity with paganism – and since the Georgian mountain-folk were also polytheists these new settlers were warmly welcomed.

Over the years the Georgian orthodox mission erected a church for the inhabitants of Pankisi in the village of Jokolo, and the Muslims of neighbouring Chechnya built a Mosque in Duisi – which became a popular hub for Sufi brotherhoods – including the Kadrija.

The Hadjist are not the first Sufi group to perform at the Brave Festival. These Kist women represent one of the two streams of Sufism present in Pankisi, the key characteristics of their beliefs are condemnation of war, love of peace, respect for adat (traditional law), forgiveness, abstention from revenge, asceticism and modesty.

The Hadjists message not only reflects the ethnic and religious diversity of the region but it is also a powerful voice in the recent history of the Caucasian territory. Although the influx of Chechens, Ingushetians and Dagestanis, over a few decades were accepted by the Georgians and formed a relatively peaceful and respectful community, another dramatic wave of refugees from warring Chechnya brought unrest and conflict. At first, the Kists provided care to these refugees from beyond the northern border, however in time these later migrants began to react against their host, “non-Chechen” culture, language and religion. These newcomers, the so-called ‘genuine’ Chechens set up Wahhabi temples and denounced ‘decadent’ Islam of the Kists. In the face of the new wave of migrants, the Kists themselves have begun withdrawing from religious life.

The Hadjists are working to revive the Sufi traditions in Pankisi. During all major religious festivals, older women perform the Zikr – an ecstatic prayer as a group. This prayer includes pleas for peace, and poetry by the charismatic Makvala Margoshvili. Makvala was given her name by her Georgian teacher. In the Georgian language it means “blackberries” – this playful, dreamy, merry Kistian girl had eyes the colour of blackberries when she started her first grade in school in Duisi. Today Makvala, now over seventy years old, belongs to one of the most respected Kistian families in the whole family. And there is practically nothing in the Pankisi Gorge that “Badi” as the Kistians affectionately call her, could not do. Badi would like her group to tour in Europe and show Kistian culture to a wider audience. “So that people would see how the Kists can sing and pray”.

The Zikr is performed in a circle. The words sung in Arabic and in the Kist dialect, which is a combination of Georgian and Chechen, quote all the names of God. The women repeat these names rhythmically, clapping the hands and swinging from side to side. A part from the prayer for peace, their singing involves please for eternal life for their dead, health for their families and prosperity for their guests listening to the Zikr. They sing about the history of Chechen freedom-fighters, of people exiled to Siberia and of those killed in the war. When their emotions reach their zenith, the women stand up and push aside the pillows. They begin running around the circle, first in a slow and stately manner which later becomes faster and more rhythmical. They call on God by His many names once more, clapping their hands and hitting their feet on the ground. More and more excited, the women dash around the circle, almost seeming not to touch the ground. At a sign from Alcani these women, over seventy years old, begin to change direction, and enslaved by the prayers repeated rhythm, they enter a trance. Finally, they gradually slow down. Tired, sweaty and light, they switch from running to walking around the circle. They stop peacefully. The leader of the sisterhood blesses all the participants. From all around you can hear the murmur of “Amin, Amin, Amin”.

The Hadjist’s intentions are practical as well as spiritual – they wish to invite people to Pankisi so that they can appreciate its nature environment. Margoshvili’s dream is to set up a tourist centre in the most beautiful stop of the Caucasus, the Hadori Gorge, as a way of providing work to unemployed Kists. The next challenge to take on will be a care home for Chechen orphans and homeless…

Based on the text by Patrycja Przeslaciewicz and Lukasz Kaminski under the titles ‘Zikr Rituals’ and ‘The Haji message to the world’. Published in the Brave Festival magazine 2009.