History of the Alans and Alania during the period of the Mongol domination in the Caucasus in 13th–14th in V.A. Kuznetsov’s researches

The paper is a historiographical essay examining in the form of a scientific discussion the views of the outstanding Russian Caucasus medievalist V.A. Kuznetsov on the history of Alan-Mongol relations. The aim of the study is to verify the existing scientific tradition of ideas about the chronology of the process of the Alans’ departure from the global historical scene, which was a consequence of the Mongol expansion in the 13th–14th centuries. The relevance of the study is determined by the contradictory representation of the chronology of this process in the scientific tradition. The result of the study is the general conclusion that the process consists of several successive stages: the loss of political independence, the collapse of the state and the demographic catastrophe. At the same time, it is assumed that this process was not initially irreversible, but became so during the invasions of Timur. In addition, the study identifies a number of issues, a detailed consideration of which will allow to present this process as a series of historical episodes. The following methods of historical research were used in the work: the method of diachronic analysis, the historical-genetic method, the method of induction, the chronological method and the method of periodization.