History of Dagestan
Located at the crossroads of world civilizations of north and south, Dagestan was the scene of clashes of interests of many states and until the early 19th century, most notably between Iran and the Russian Empire.
In the 6th century, the Sasanid Empire conquered the eastern Caucasus after more than 100 years of war, bringing the entire region of Dagestan under the influence of Persia.
To protect his possessions from the new wave of nomads, the Sassanid shah Khosrau I (r. 531–579) began the construction of defensive fortifications in Derbent, thus closing a narrow passage between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains.
[2] The modern name Derbent is a Persian word (darband) meaning 'gateway', which came into use in this same era, in the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century CE, when the city was re-established by Kavadh I of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia.
Elements of ancient Iranian languages were absorbed into the everyday speech of the population of Dagestan and the city of Derbent, especially during the Sassanian era, and many remain extant.
Historian Balami writes that in 723 the warlord al-Djarrah "called one of his close commanders, gave him three thousand warriors and said to him, "Go to Kaitag, destroy there everything that you will meet on your way, fight everyone who will show you resistance and come back to me before the sunrise.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, legal traditions were codified and mountainous communities (djamaats) obtained a considerable degree of autonomy, while the Kumyk potentates (shamhals) asked for the Tsar's protection following the Russo-Persian War (1651–53) despite a Russian loss.
The Russians tightened their hold in the region in the 18th century, when Peter the Great took maritime Dagestan in the course of the Russo-Persian War (1722–23) – although the territories were returned to Persia in 1735 per the Treaty of Ganja.
The 18th century also saw the resurgence of the Khanate of Avaristan, which even managed to repulse the attacks of Nadir Shah of Persia at a certain point during his Dagestan campaign and impose tribute on Shirvan and Georgia.
Heavy taxation, coupled with the expropriation of estates and the construction of fortresses (including Makhachkala), spurred highlanders into rising under the aegis of the Muslim Imamate of Dagestan, led by Ghazi Mohammed (1828–32), Hamzat Bek (1832–34) and Shamil (1834–59).
Following the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, Ottoman armies occupied Azerbaijan and Dagestan and the region became part of the short-lived Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus.
After more than three years of fighting in the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks (Communists) achieved victory and the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on January 20, 1921.
Dagestan became the epicenter of violence in the North Caucasus with Makhachkala, Kaspiisk, Derbent, Khasavyurt, Kizlyar, Sergokala, Untsukul, and Tsumada all becoming hotbeds of militant unrest.
