The Сoncept of Bongænd in Payment Procedures for Murder in the 19th Century Ossetian Customary Law System

Abstract

The study compares payment procedures for the murder adopted among Ossetians and other peoples of the North Caucasus. It is argued that there were two different types of compositions in these procedures that were paid by relatives of the murderer to relatives of the murdered: the redemption of own blood and the material compensation for bleeding. It is assumed that the first type of the payments among Ossetians was designated by the word bongænd denoting an arable measure. It is pointed out that the almost complete absence of such a measure of value in the calculation of payments for murder among the Ossetians’ nearest neighbors (Ingushes and Kabardians) may be of interest as a subject for further research.