Old Udi alphabet
| Caucasian Albanian |
|
|---|---|
Matenadaran MS No. 7117, fol. 142r
|
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| Direction | Left-to-right |
| ISO 15924 | Aghb, 239 |
|
Unicode alias
|
Caucasian Albanian |
| Final Accepted Script Proposal | |
The Caucasian Albanian alphabet, or the alphabet for the Gargareans, was an alphabet used by the Caucasian Albanians, one of the ancient and indigenous Northeast Caucasian peoples whose territory comprised parts of present-day Azerbaijan and Daghestan. It was one of only two indigenous alphabets ever developed for speakers of indigenous Caucasian languages (i.e. Caucasian languages that are not a part of larger groupings like the Turkic and Indo-European languages families) to represent any of their languages, the other being the Georgian alphabet. The Armenian language, the third language of Caucasus with its own alphabet, is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family.
According to Movses Kaghankatvatsi, the Caucasian Albanian, or Gargarean, alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots, the Armenian monk, theologian and translator who is also credited with creating the Armenian alphabet.
Koriun, a pupil of Mesrop Mashtots, in his book The Life of Mashtots, wrote about the circumstances of its creation:
Then there came and visited them an elderly man, an Albanian named Benjamin. And he, Mesrop Mashtots, inquired and examined the barbaric diction of the Albanian language, and then through his usual God-given keenness of mind invented an alphabet, which he, through the grace of Christ, successfully organized and put in order.
The alphabet was in use from its creation in the early 5th century through the 12th century, and was used not only formally by the Church of Caucasian Albania, but also for non-religious means.
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