Daghestan
is placed in the south of Astrakhan state, a prominent Turkish area, starting from the Don
river and laying down to south between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. This magnificent
geographical area is called the Caucasia which is 450,000 km2 to the Turkish and Persian
border in the south. There lays the Caucasia
Mountains from northwest to the southeast where most of the Caucasian people live on this
mountainous land. The area on the north of these mountains is called the North
Caucasia, where as the south part is named Mâverây-ı Caucasia or Transkafkasya.
Throughout the history, most of the settlers of the Caucasia are Turanian people
such as the Circassian, Abkhasian, Chechen, Inghush, Avar, Lezhi, Lak, Georgian, Kumukh,
Noghay, Kalmukh, Kharachay, Balkhar, Kharapapakh, Khundur, and the Azeri Turks. There are
also some other peoples such as Indian-European tribes: that is the Ossetian, Armenian,
Svan, Persian, Alan and Russian people, as well as Semitic people such as Jews. All of
these peoples are muslem except the Indian-European and Semitic people together with some
Georgians.
In history, the Caucasia was a safe shelter for refugees
from invaded lands, and for some warrior and fractious tribes settled especially in the
Great Turkistan, the center Turanian area. The Caucasia received refugees from all over
the World just because of its geographical characteristics. They had to abondon their
lands for any reason and settled in this mountainous area where it is easy to defend and
difficult to pursue.
The Caucasian peoples have amazing characteristics in
terms of their language and nationality. More than any other place in the World, there
live many people with different nationality in the Caucasia, and they speak many different
language and dialect. Today, only in Daghestan, there live more than thirty different
tribes.
It is known that more than a hundred languages is spoken
especially in the East Caucasia where Dağıstan is placed. It is estimated that
approximately 300 or 360 languages and dialects are spoken all over the Caucasia where the
Arabics called as The Mountain of Languages (Cebelü'l-Elsine), and where the Roman used
130 translator for business.
Even some deliberate European writers talk about not less than
fourty languages which are not so different from each other in terms of linguistics.
This dazzling variety and difference caused many disputes and
even feuds between these tribes for ages. The campaign for liberty and war of independence
started in the last quarter of the 18th century against the biggest and common enemy, the
Russia, helped to develap an identical consciousness of unity and devotion between these
tribes especially in the North Caucasia. The brotherhood of Islam which is a common faith
for all North Caucasians except some of Ossetian people, played a major role in the
constitution of this unity.
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