Gunib (), also spelled Ghunib,e.g.,

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and b ...

, ''Vacation Tourists and Notes of Travel in 1860 861, 1862-3', Vol. 3, p. 81; Moshe Gammer, ''Muslim Resistance to the Tsar: Shamil and the Conquest of Chechnia and Daghestan'' (Taylor & Francis, 2003; ), p. 277. is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically describ ...

(a '' selo'') and the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Ghunib District of the Republic of Daghestan. Population: After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the population of Gunib went into decline. Only in 2014 did it reach its Soviet-era population again.

History

Ghunib was historically important as a natural fortress during the

Caucasian War The Caucasian War () or the Caucasus War was a 19th-century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. It consisted of a series o ...

of the 19th century.

Imam Shamil Imam Shamil (; ; ; ; ; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in the 1800s, the third Imam of the Caucasian Imamate (1840–1859), and a Sunni Muslim ...

, leader of the Chechen and Daghestani tribes, made his last stand against the

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

at Ghunib, where he gave himself up to the Russian commander, Prince Alexander Baryatinsky, on 25 August 1859. The name is derived from the Avar word ''Guni-meer'' which translates to ''heap of stones''. Olga Forsh was born in Ghunib in 1873. In 1895, the town housed the barracks of the Samur regiment and the Terek-Dagestan fortress artillery, and grew into a self-sufficient entity with merchants, conscripts, an Orthodox church, and a post office. During the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the settlement was the administrative capital of the Gunibsky Okrug.

References

{{Authority control Rural localities in Gunibsky District