To the Historical Geography of Ossetia: The Historical Region of Khokh

Abstract

The present article advocates that the oronym Khokhis K’avk’asi “the Khokh Caucasus,” catalogued by the Georgian geographer Vakhushty in the beginning of the 18th century as the name for the Side Ridge in Central Ossetia, corresponds to the historical and geographical region of Khokh, known from the toponymic, folklore and ethnographic sources of the 20th century. The oronym Khokh (“mountain”) has left a distinctive mark in the works of the Ossetian writers — natives of that region. In South Ossetia, the same oronym applies to the Main Caucasian Ridge, which has urged the author to explain this inconsistency. Besides, the Nart Epic of the Ossets also speaks of a mountainous land Akhokhayi Khokh raided by the heroes. One of the sources of the 14th century mentions the Alan province Akhokhiya. As it is evident that both toponyms refer to the region Khokh, the author deeemed necessary to explain the recurrent initial element A- in them. The author refutes the version of its Circassian origin suggesting an etymological link with Proto-Iranian prefix *ā-, one of the meanings of which is that of the preposition “on.” The general meaning of the toponym A-Khokh is thus “upland.” A typological parallel to it is the Old Persian toponym *Ākaufaka ‘Kohistan’ that consists of the same prefix *ā-, Old Persian kaufa ‘mountain,’ and a suffix. As the prefix а- fell out of free use leaving its trail only in a number of etymologically obscure toponyms of Ossetia, A-Khokh (Akhokhiya) is one of the oldest toponyms correlating to the descriptive names of the Alan province Mons in terra Alanorum and montes Alanorum mentioned in the medieval sources.

Keywords

• toponymy
• ossetia
• alania
• etymology
• historical geography
• folklore
• literature