«History Isn’t Just About the Past; It’s About the Path to the Future»: A Conversation with KBSU Graduate Student Inal Makhov

Inal Makhov is a graduate student at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov in the program «Russian History,» an assistant in the «Organization of Youth Work,» and an analyst at the Center for General Development Programs of the Department of Youth Policy and Social Issues. On Graduate Student Day, Inal discussed his passions in science and how he came to his research.

Although fate led him to a different major upon entering university, his interest in history never waned. Therefore, the decision to pursue a graduate degree in Russian History was a conscious and deliberate step.

Currently, Inal is working on his dissertation on «The Formation and Development of the Tyrnyauz Tungsten-Molybdenum Plant (1930–2000).» His research not only reveals pages of Kabardino-Balkaria’s industrial history but also reconstructs important episodes of Soviet defense might. Inal’s supervisor is Petr Abramovich Kuzminov, professor in the Department of Russian History and Caucasian Studies at Kabardino-Balkarian State University, whose mentorship plays a crucial role in his research.

Inal recounted that during the Great Patriotic War, when German troops approached the Elbrus region, the plant’s management made a heroic decision: destroy the equipment and evacuate the workers through the passes to Transcaucasia. Despite the constant threat of attack, thanks to the courage of Soviet soldiers fighting in the upper reaches of the Baksan Gorge, the evacuation was successful.

After the liberation of Tyrnyauz in 1944, most of the workers returned home and literally raised the town and the plant from ruins. By January 1945, the plant resumed operations. It later became one of the largest in the USSR, annually mining and processing 6.6 million tons of ore, producing 14,000 tons of concentrate.

The tungsten and molybdenum mined here were also used to make tank armor, shells, aircraft, and even blades.

As Inal says, «If you’re interested in this topic, come to my defense next year!»

When asked when he realized that science was his path, Inal responds modestly: «I can’t call myself a man of science in the full sense of the word…» Explaining his choice, he cites a philosophical idea: every person strives to leave a mark.

«It could be children, good deeds… Doing something useful means making a modest contribution to the development of your homeland, your republic,» Inal asserts.

Among historical figures, Inal Makhov particularly highlights Ismail al-Jazari, a 12th-century scientist who is called «the father of modern engineering and robotics.» He invented the crankshaft, combination locks, water clocks, musical automata, and even the first humanoid robots.

«Textbooks describe the achievements of Arab engineers extremely superficially. Yet they laid the foundations for many technologies we still use today,» the graduate student notes.
If it were possible to travel back in time and change one event, Inal jokes, «he would have caught the apple that fell on Newton’s head, and then all physicists would have been left without the law of universal gravitation.»

But there are also times he would never have visited, such as 14th-century Europe, engulfed by the Black Death. He emphasizes, however, that science and medicine flourished in the East at the same time, and inventions like paper appeared there centuries earlier than in Europe.

On Postgraduate Student Day, I wish Inal Makhov success in defending his dissertation, inspiration in his research, and faith that his «modest contribution» will be meaningful to many.