Before 1922 Buynaksk was known as Temir-Khan-Shurá (Темир-Хан-Шура), that is, the lake or cliff of Tamerlane who is said to have camped here in 1396 after defeating Tokhtamysh during the Tokhtamysh-Timur war.

On 13 November 1920, the government of the Russian SFSR declared Dagestan's autonomy during the congress of the Dagestani people, which took place in Temir-Khan-Shura.

In 1999, a car bomb outside an apartment building housing the families of military officers killed sixty-four people.

About ten men first opened fire with automatic weapons on a police post, killing four officers.

The driver of a Zhiguli car smashed through a gate at the base and headed for an area where soldiers were quartered in tents.

After the blast, a roadside bomb hit a car taking investigators to the scene, but no injuries were reported in the second explosion.