ANDI (ANDIES; Russian, Andítzy):

One of the wild Lesghian tribes of the province of Tersk (Terek) and northern Daghestan. Like the Tabassarans and other Caucasian tribes, the Andi claim to be of Israelitish origin. They number about 20,000, and were conquered by Russia in June, 1845. The Andi language has not yet been fully investigated. It does not belong to the eastern group of the mountain languages of Caucasia, nor can it be classed as Semitic.

Bibliography:
  • I. Berchin, in Voskhod, November, December, 1883, p. 145;
  • Uslar, Nachalo Christianstva, etc., in Sbornik Svyedyeni o Kavkazskikh Gortzakh, 1869, ii. 13;
  • Nadezhdin, Kavkazski Krai, 1895, p. 189.
H. R.
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