History of Dagestan

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History of Dagestan

• Mikhail Nokhov,
• Gymnasium 1,
• Khasavyurt

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The Map of Dagestan
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• The oldest records about the region refer to the
  state of Caucasian Albania in the south, with its
  capital at Derbent and other important centres at
  Chola, Toprakh Qala, and Urtseki. The northern
  parts were held by a confederation of pagan
  tribes. In the first few centuries AD, Caucasian
  Albania continued to rule over what is present
  day Azerbaijan and the area occupied by the
  present day Lezghians. It was fought over in
  classical times by Rome and the Persian Sassanids
  and was early converted to Christianity.

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• In the fifth century AD, the Sassanids gained the
  upper hand and constructed a strong citadel at
  Derbent, known henceforward as the Caspian Gates,
  while the northern part of Dagestan was overrun
  by the Huns, followed by the Caucasian Avars. It
  is not clear whether the latter were instrumental
  in the rise of the Christian kingdom in Central
  Dagestan highlands. Known as Sarir, this
  Avar-dominated state maintained a precarious
  existence in the shadow of Khazaria and the
  Caliphate until the ninth century, when it
  managed to assert its supremacy in the region.

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• Due to Muslim pressure and internal disunity,
  Sarir disintegrated in the early twelfth century,
  giving way to the Khanate of Avaristan, a
  long-lived Muslim state which relied on the
  alliance with the Golden Horde and braved the
  devastating Mongol invasions of 1222 and 1239,
  followed by Tamerlane's raid in 1389.

Tamerlane
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• As the Mongol authority gradually eroded, new
  centres of power emerged in Kaitagi and Tarki. In
  the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, legal
  traditions were codified, mountainous communities
  (djamaats) obtained a considerable degree of
  autonomy, while the Kumyk potentates (shamhals)
  asked for the Tsar's protection.

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• Russians intensified their hold in the region in
  the eighteenth century, when Peter the Great
  annexed maritime Dagestan in the course of the
  First Russo-Persian War. Although the territories
  were returned to Persia in 1735, the next bout of
  hostilities resulted in the Russian capture of
  Derbent in 1796.

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• The eighteenth century also saw the resurgence of
  the Khanate of Avaristan, which managed to
  repulse the attacks of Nadir Shah of Persia and
  impose tribute on Shirvan and Georgia. In 1803
  the khanate voluntarily submitted to Russian
  authority, but it took Persia a decade to
  recognize all of Dagestan as the Russian
  possession (Treaty of Gulistan).

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Nadir Shah. Engraving by Thamas Koulikan
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Memorial Vatan at the place of defeat of the
troops of the conqueror of the world Persian
ruler Nadir Shah by the united troops of
Dagestans. The defeat of Nadir Shah and the
glorious victory of the peoples of Dagestan over
the most redoubtable armies at that time caused a
great international response and became a vivid
witness of the might and force of the peoples of
Dagestan.
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• The Russian administration, however, disappointed
  and embittered the highlanders. The institution
  of heavy taxation, coupled with the expropriation
  of estates and the construction of fortresses
  (including Makhachkala), electrified highlanders
  into rising under the aegis of the Muslim Imamate
  of Dagestan, led by Ghazi Mohammed (1828-32),
  Gamzat-bek (1832-34) and Shamil (1834-59). This
  Caucasian War raged until 1864, when Shamil was
  captured and the Khanate of Avaristan was
  abolished.

Imam Ghazi Mohammed
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Imam Shamil
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Khadzhy Murat
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The Battle of Ghimri
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• Dagestan and Chechnya profited from the
  Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878, to rise against
  Imperial Russia for the last time. During the
  Russian Civil War, the region became part of the
  short-lived Republic of the Mountaineers of the
  North Caucasus. After more than three years of
  fighting White movement reactionaries and local
  nationalists, the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet
  Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 20 January
  1921.

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• After the Civil War, Dagestan managed to
  liqudate economic devastation, hunger and
  epidemics. This opened the broader possiblities
  for the consolidation of all Dagestanian people
  and ethnic groups into a nation for a rapid
  developmentof the economy and culture of the
  young republic. Indeed during the first five year
  plans Dagestan was converted from a backward
  agrarian country into a a developing
  industrial-agrarian republic.

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• But this was achieved by its population at a high
  price. During the period of Stalins personality
  cult. From the 1930s to the early 1950s in
  Dagestan like everywhere else in the country,
  there were a great number of violations of
  legality, attacks on the honor and dignity of the
  individuals, and the political repressions of
  many innocent people.
• During the World War II the peoples of Dagestan
  together with the peoples of the former Soviet
  Union stood up for the defense of their
  Motherland. They displayed courage and heroism at
  the front. More than 50 Dagestanis were awarded
  the highest title of the Hero of the Soviet
  Union.

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• After the victorious Great Patriotic war the
  working people of Dagestan began with new
  strength to bring into life the plans of
  restoring their economy and to solve new problems
  that arose before them. In 1970 our republic was
  struck by a natural disaster, an earthquake which
  inflicted great material damage to its economy
  and population. A number of other republics and
  regions of the former Soviet union rendered
  considerable assistance to Dagestan to eliminate
  the effects of the earthquake.

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• 90.7 percent of Dagestan's population is Muslim,
  with Christians accounting for much of the
  remaining 9.3.
• As with much of the Caucasus region, Dagestan's
  native Islam consists of Sunni Sufi orders that
  have been in place for centuries. Resul
  Magomedov, who is a contemporary writer of
  Daghestan, writes about the unifying role of
  Islam Before Islam, all Daghestan tribes were
  divided in respect of language, religion, ethnic
  structure and geography like all other Caucasian
  peoples. This situation caused severe hostility
  and conflicts.

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Central Mosque in Makhachkala
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• After all native tribes became Muslims, a unity
  in belief could be sustained among Daghestan
  tribes which also stopped ethnic conflicts among
  them. If these conflicts continued, our homeland
  would face great disasters. This unity could only
  be established by medressehs spread out all the
  country. The scientists, scholars, imams
  graduated from these medressehs had an important
  role in stopping these conflicts in this
  multinational region and they helped tribes to
  establish friendly relations. Islam should also
  serve such a goal today. There is a
  millennia-old presence of a Jewish community, the
  "Mountain Jews," in Dagestan. Their influx from
  Babylonia and Persia occurred from the seventh
  century B.C. to the sixth century A.D.

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Znamensky Cathedral in Khasavyurt