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