Folk History

Инарыкъуей мафIэсым и уэрэд

The Song of the Yinarikuæy Conflagration

The words of this song, in Kabardian, are published in Zyramyku Kardengush’ (1979, pp. 127–130). According to tradition, the song was composed by Dawit Sheriy, Lut’e Nibezch and Sehiyd Derikua.

In the summer of 1914, a devastating fire swept through the village of Yinarikuæy, now part of Upper Kurp in Kabarda. At the time, Nax’we Wezir — whose Kumyk grandfather had come to Yinarikuæy and settled among the Kabardians — was holding wedding celebrations at his home for his daughter, before she was to be escorted to her future household.

During the celebrations, a piece of live coal fell from a tea urn onto some straw. The straw caught fire, and a particularly hot, dry wind carried the burning fragments across the village, setting house after house alight. When the fire first broke out, the priest Shogue looked at his watch. The wind was so strong that much of the village was soon engulfed. After the flames had consumed most of Yinarikuæy, Shogue checked his watch again and calculated that it had taken only two hours for the village to go up in smoke.

Only a few houses were spared, among them the priest’s own home. According to local memory, this was the third time that members of the Wezir family had caused the village to burn: Nax’we’s grandfather was said to have been responsible for the previous two incidents. It is also said that Shogue later bought provisions for his fellow villagers, who had been left with no food supplies.

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