Pecteilis Radiata

by | Mar 29, 2018 | Pecteilis Radiata

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Lezgistan from map of the Caucasus by Johann Gustav Gaerber (1728)

Lezgistan is an ethnic homeland of the Lezgins, as well as the area of distribution of the Lezgin language.[1]

Historical toponym

While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred to Legoi people who inhabited Caucasian Albania, Arab historians of 9-10th centuries mention the kingdom of Lakz in present-day southern Dagestan.[2] Al Masoudi referred to inhabitants of this area as Lakzams (Lezgins),[3] who defended Shirvan against invaders from the north.[4]

Prior to the Russian Revolution, "Lezgin" was a term applied to all ethnic groups inhabiting the present-day Russian Republic of Dagestan.[5]

The first notion of an autonomous Lezgin territory, that is, "Lezgistan", was voiced in 1936 during Joseph Stalin's reign.[6]

Independence projects

Flag used by Lezgistan Separatists

After the dissolution of USSR there was an irredentist project to create a unified Lezgistan on Lezgin-inhabited areas of Azerbaijan and Russian Republic of Dagestan.[7] In December 1991, various Lezgin groups held the All-National Congress of Lezgins. During it, they adopted a declaration calling for the creation of an independent Lezgistan, which would be a national entity uniting the Lezgins of Dagestan and Azerbaijan.[8] Sadval movement[9][10] and Federal Lezgian National and Cultural Autonomy, Samur[11] are the main political organisations seeking separatism.

See also

References

  1. ^ Haspelmath 1993, p. 18.
  2. ^ Haspelmath 1993, p. 17.
  3. ^ Yakut, IV, 364. According to al-Masoudi (Murudzh, II, 5)
  4. ^ VFMinorsky. History of Shirvan. M. 1963
  5. ^ Olson, James Stuart; Pappas, Nicholas Charles (1994). An Ethnohistorical dictionary of the Russian and Soviet empires. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 438. ISBN 0313274975.
  6. ^ Sayfutdinova, Leyla (2022). "Ethnic Boundaries and Territorial Borders: On the Place of Lezgin Irredentism in the Construction of National Identity in Azerbaijan". Nationalities Papers. 50 (4): 799. doi:10.1017/nps.2021.3. hdl:10023/23933. S2CID 236600082.
  7. ^ Markedonov, Sergey (2010). Radical Islam in the North Caucasus. Center for Strategic and International Studies. p. 2. ISBN 978-0892066148.
  8. ^ Minorities at Risk Project, Chronology for Lezgins in Russia, 2004 (accessed 21 September 2011)
  9. ^ Demirdjian, Z. S. Andrew (25 May 2021). "Lezgistan: Lurking threat to Azerbaijan". Keghart. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Lezgin Leader Assassinated in Dagestan". Jamestown. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  11. ^ "Lezgins in Azerbaijan". Minority Rights Group. Retrieved 2024-04-07.

Sources

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