[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][excessive citations] Rutuls experienced strong cultural and linguistic pressure from Azerbaijanis and to a lesser extent from Lezghins.
[17] His name was mentioned several times: in 1588, the Turkish Sultan Murad III wrote a letter to Gazibek, congratulating him on gaining leadership over the federation.
There is evidence that already at the end of the 16th century, the Rutul beks had connections with the governments of neighboring countries.
It is possible that the Rutul Free Society already existed at that time, as a political association of a significant part of the Rutulians.
One of the confirmations of the ancient age of the Rutul Free Society is a letter from the Tarkov shamkhal to Tsar Fedor Ivanovich dated 1598, in which the Rutul and Khnov troops are mentioned among the allied shamkhal troops.