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Judaism in Dagestan is mainly practiced by Mountain Jews. By the beginning of the 8th century BCE Mountain Jews had reached Persia from Israel. [1] Under the Sasanian Empire, with the arrival in Dagestan of Iranian-speaking tribes from the north, they settled in different regions of the Caucasus. [2]
According to the 2002 census, there were 3.4 thousand Jews in Dagestan (in Makhachkala - 430 Jews (0.08%), Mountain Jews - 61 people (0.01%). [3]
References to the Jewish communities existing in the Caucasus are found in the works of Armenian, Georgian and Arab historians. In particular, Faustus of Byzantium, Elishe, Movses Kaghankatvatsi, Movses Khorenatsi and Al-Masudi. This is also evidenced by historical field research, which reveals many legends associated with the existence of Judaism in the region. Petroglyphs with the star of David and other symbols of the Jewish faith have been found in many regions of Dagestan. The toponymy of the North-Eastern Caucasus has preserved many names associated with the Jews. In particular, the mountain village of Tabasaransky District is called Dzhugud-kala (literally, “Jewish fortress”, “fortress of the Jews”); the gorge near Madzhalis is Dzhut-Gatta, and the mountain in this area is Dzhufudag, which is, the “Jewish Mountain”. [4]
The settlement area of Mountain Jews completely coincides with the territory occupied by the Sasanian settlers during the times of Kavad I and Khosrow I Anushirvan. Almost all chronicles from written sources, toponymy, petroglyphs and folklore related to Judaism were recorded precisely on those lands where functioned the border posts of the Sassanids and then the Arabs: in modern Derbentsky, Tabasaransky, Kaytagsky, Suleyman-Stalsky, Khivsky, Magaramkentsky, Akhtynsky, Rutulsky, Agulsky districts of Dagestan. Moreover, it was in those settlements that were the strongholds of those boards (Dzhalgan, Jarrakh, Nyugdi, Khanzhalkala, Mamrach, etc.). The material traces of Jewish communities are best preserved in the vicinity of Derbent, as well as on the lands of historical Tabasaran and Kaytag. [4]
Adam Olearius, who visited Dagestan in the first half of the 17th century, writes about the Jewish population of Kaitag, Tabasaran and Derbent. He noted:
Now there are many, many Jews living in Tabasaran.
In another place he wrote:
There are no Christians in the city of Derbent, as some writers say; only Mohammedan and Jews live here, writing themselves from the tribe of Benjamin. [5]
The same words are repeated in the work of Jan Jansen Struys, a Dutch traveler who visited Dagestan in 1670:
There are no Christians in the city of Derbent, but only Mohammedans and a few Jews. [6]
Faustus of Byzantium writes that Armenian king Tigranes the Great (95 – 55 BC) brought Jews in for the first time from Palestine to Caucasus and settled them in mountain gorges in the 1st century BC. The Jewish colonists remained an influential military force in the Caucasus for many centuries, until the conquest of Armenia by Shapur II (309 – 379 BC) carried out a devastating campaign in Armenia, led away tens of thousands of Jewish colonists and settled them in Iran. [4]
In the 2000s Dagestan had 4 synagogues, of which three were in Makhachkala, Derbent, Buynaksk, one prayer house was in Khasavyurt. In Derbent, there is a Jewish community and the Sephardic synagogue "Kele-Numaz". Also, Vatan , the only newspaper in Russia in the Mountain Jewish language (Juhuri). There are only 6 clergymen of the Jewish religious denomination operating in Dagestan (community chairmen, cantors and acting rabbis). Sunday schools functioned at the synagogues. There were no higher and secondary Jewish educational institutions in the republic. [3]
Amidst the 2023 Hamas-Israel war, there were a wave of anti-semitic attacks in Dagestan and other areas in the North Caucasus. In one case, a group waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-semitic slogans forcefully entered the Makhachkala airport. Their target was Israeli and Jewish travelers arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. The incident resulted in about 20 injuries, as reported by local health authorities. Passports of some passengers were scrutinized by the crowd. Meanwhile, in the nearby city of Khasavyurt, protesters surrounded a hotel, suspecting it accommodated Jewish tourists. [7] [8]
On June 23, 2024, Islamist terrorists burned the Jewish synagogue in Derbent. [9] [10]
Derbent, formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second-most important city of Dagestan. Derbent occupies the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian Steppe to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south; covering an area of 69.63 square kilometres (26.88 sq mi), with a population of roughly 120,000 residents.
Mountain Jews are the Mizrahi Jewish subgroup of the eastern and northern Caucasus, mainly Azerbaijan, and various republics in the Russian Federation: Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria, and are a branch of Persian Jewry. Mountain Jews took shape as a community after Qajar Iran ceded the areas in which they lived to the Russian Empire as part of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813.
Dagestan, officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Federal District. The republic is the southernmost tip of Russia, sharing land borders with the countries of Azerbaijan and Georgia to the south and southwest, the Russian republics of Chechnya and Kalmykia to the west and north, and with Stavropol Krai to the northwest. Makhachkala is the republic's capital and largest city; other major cities are Derbent, Kizlyar, Izberbash, Kaspiysk, and Buynaksk.
Buynaksk is a town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus on the Shura-Ozen River, 40 kilometers (25 mi) southwest of the republic's capital Makhachkala. Population: 62,623 (2010 Census); 61,437 (2002 Census); 56,783 (1989 Soviet census); 40,000 (1970).
Azerbaijanis in Russia or Russian Azerbaijanis are people of Azeri descent in Russia. These may be either ethnic Azeris residents in the country or recent immigrants who profess Azeri ancestry.
Lakia is an ancient ethnic region within the state of Dagestan. Its historical capital is Kumukh, one of the ancient cultural and religious centres of Lakia. The people of Lakia are self-designated as Laks and their native language is Lak.
Historically, Dagestan consisted of a federation of mountainous principalities in the eastern part of the North Caucasus. 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.
Nyugdi is a rural locality in Derbentsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia.
Madzhalis is a rural locality and the administrative center of Kaytagsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Population: 6,815 (2010 Census); 5,766 (2002 Census); 5,211 (1989 Soviet census). During the Russian Empire, the settlement was the administrative capital of the Kaytago-Tabasaransky Okrug.
Aglobi is a rural locality in Derbentsky District, Republic of Dagestan, in southern Russia.
Karchag is a rural locality and the administrative centre of Karchagsky Selsoviet, Suleyman-Stalsky District, Republic of Dagestan, Russia.
Khanzhalkala (Khanzhal-Kala), also known as Khanjal-Kala is an abandoned Lezgin aul in the Magaramkentsky District of Dagestan. The name comes from Judeo-Tat and means "fortress of the dagger". It was protected not only by the steep slopes of the mountain on which it was located, but also by its fortress walls. It was abolished in 1968.
The Derbent Synagogue, also known as Kele-Numaz was a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 94 Tagi-Zade Street, in the city of Derbent in the Republic of Dagestan, in the North Caucasus of Russia.
The Jewish community of Derbent, a city in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, is the oldest in the North Caucasus and dates back to the 7th century. A large influx of Jewish immigrants occurred during the Russian Civil War (1917-1923). Most Derbent Jews immigrated from the mountain and steppe villages of the northern Caucasus.
The Jewish community of Makhachkala are Jews who have ever lived on the territory of modern Makhachkala, a city in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. During the Persian campaign in 1722 in Makhachkala was a camp for the troops of the Russian Emperor Peter I. Mountain Jews and Ashkenazi Jews were allowed to settle there.
Khoshmenzil, also known as Khosh-Menzil is an abolished village in the Derbentsky District of Dagestan. In 1972 it was included in the village of Rubas.
On 23 June 2024, coordinated attacks were launched in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala in the Russian republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus. Two synagogues, two Eastern Orthodox churches, and a traffic police post were attacked simultaneously with automatic weapons and Molotov cocktails. It was reported that 17 police officers and five civilians were killed along with all five attackers. The fatalities included a priest, Nikolay Kotelnikov. The Kele-Numaz Synagogue was nearly completely destroyed by fire in the attack.
Christianity ranks second in Dagestan in terms of the number of its followers after Islam. There are around 140,000 Christians, including denominations like Russian Orthodoxy, Armenian, Protestant and Catholic.
The Jewish community of Buynaksk, in the Republic of Dagestan, is one of the oldest in the North Caucasus. After Dagestan was annexed to Russian Empire, many fortresses were built, around which cities later grew. One of them was Temir-Khan-Shurá, which was renamed Buynaksk in 1922. In 1850, in addition to military personnel, Russians and Armenians traders and several families of Mountain Jews artisans already lived here. Until the February Revolution of 1917, Mountain Jews and Ashkenazi Jews together constituted most of the city's population. Under the Soviet Union and in post-Soviet Russia, the Jewish community in Buynaksk primarily consists of Mountain Jews.
Buynaksk Synagogue was a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 44 Korkmasov Street, in the city of Buynaksk in the Republic of Dagestan, in the North Caucasus of Russia. The building is from the 19th century and is a historical relic of the Jews of the Caucasus that was built in 1862. It served the Jews for over a century. This is the only synagogue that has survived from the four that were in the city at the beginning of the 20th century. Nowadays, the synagogue is closed and has ceased to perform its functions.
Media related to Judaism in Dagestan at Wikimedia Commons