Tabasaran people

The Tabasarans are a people in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. They included in the 2010 census in Russian Dagestan 118 848 people, representing 4.1 percent of the population in this republic. They live in the mountainous south of the region, their center is the city Chutschni near Derbent. Across Russia, the census of 2010 came to 146 360 Tabasarans

Armenian historians mentioned a people Tavaspare in the 5th century to the 13th century they formed an independent state. Later it belonged to the Khanate of Derbent, in 1806 they came up with quite Dagestan Russia.

The Tabasarans are Sunni Muslims. They took after the conquest of the region by the Arabs in the 8th and 9th centuries of the Islamic faith, although earlier traditions to this day hold (for example, celebrations at the plowing and sowing, or the worship of old trees ).

In addition to agriculture and animal husbandry ( pastoralism in the higher elevations), the craftsmanship was widespread. Tabassaranische carpets were once famous. During the collectivization of agriculture and the dissolution of the village- patriarchal structures in the 1940s but has been lost from the culture of Tabasarans much.

The tabassaranische language belongs to the Caucasian languages ​​. It is closely related to the Lesgischen, the language of Lezgins. 1932 a font for the language has been created, first with Latin script, starting in 1938 with the Cyrillic alphabet.

Notable people

• Yelena Isinbayeva Gadschijewna - Russian track and field athlete, Olympic champion in pole vault