Durdzuks


The Durdzuks, occasionally known as Dzurdzuks, was a Georgian name from The Georgian Chronicles used to describe a people in the North Caucasus, unanimously identified as the Vainakh peoples.
According to the Georgian royal annals:
Durdzuk was mentioned by the Chronicles as "the most distinguished among the descendants of Kavkas", who led his people, the Durdzuks, into the mountains, where they would become the ancestors of today's Vainakh peoples.
Durdzuks allied themselves with Georgia, and helped the first Georgian king Pharnavaz I of Iberia consolidate his reign against his unruly vassals. The alliance with Georgia was cemented when King Pharnavaz married a Durdzuk girl.
Later on, the Durdzuks are mentioned fighting the Mongols alongside their Georgian allies as well as the Osses. Durdzuk soldiers are mentioned fighting alongside Georgians against the troops of Jalal-ad-Din of Khwarezm. Queen Tamar of Georgia was highly esteemed, and the Durdzuks named daughters as well as bridges and other buildings after her.
The "Gate of Durdzuks" mentioned in Georgian sources is thought to have been in the Assa gorge of Ingushetia, which is a path connecting the North and South Caucasus regions.
The Durdzuks were known as the Dourts in the Geography of Armenia.