Tabasarans are a

Northeast Caucasian The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Nakh-Daghestani or ''Vainakh-Daghestani'', is a family of languages spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia and in Northern Azerbaijan as well as in ...

ethnic group native predominantly to southern part of the North Caucasian Republic of

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

. Their population in Russia is about 150,000. They speak the

Tabasaran language Tabasaran (also written Tabassaran) is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Lezgic branch. It is spoken by the Tabasaran people in the southern part of the Russian Republic of Dagestan. There are two main dialects: North (Khanag) and South Tabas ...

. They are mainly

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

History

The earliest mention of the Tabasarans are found in 7th century Armenian sources referring to them as an independent people of Dagestan. Arab historians referred to their land as "Tabarstan". In the 8th century, the Arabs conquered parts of the Caucasus including the territory of the Tabarsarans. In the 15th century, the Tabasrans formed a powerful principality called the Maisumat of Tabarsaran. However, the state was eventually divided into two due to internal struggles and both were conquered by the Russians in the early 19th century.

Culture

Language

The main language of the Tabasaran people is the

(табасаран чIал‎, ''tabasaran ҫ̇al''), which belongs to the

Lezgic The Lezgic languages are one of seven branches of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Lezgian are literary languages aside from being extant (currently spoken). Classification * Peripheral: Archi – 970 speakers * SamurNortheast Caucasian language family. It is closely related to neighbouring Lezgian and Aghul languages.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

classifies Tabasaran language as " vulnerable". According to 2002 Russian census 97% of the Tabasaran can speak their ancestral language and a further 87% of them know Russian. Under Soviet control Tabasaran has become one of the official languages of Dagestan.

Religion

The vast majority of Tabasarans profess

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and belong to the Shafi'i school. Some elements originated from pre-Islamic Tabasaran beliefs, such as deity names and annual spring celebration known as Elbetsan (parallel to Iranic '' Nowruz'' and Lezgian '' Yaran-Suvar'') have been preserved in the contemporary Tabasaran society.

Economy

Tabasaran traditional economy has been based on agriculture and animal husbandry, as the regions inhabited by the group have a mild and warm climate with abundant water sources. Agriculturally grain farming, orchards and

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

is common among the people. Carpet weaving, leatherworking, woolen clothes, woodworking and beekeeping form the domestic industries.

Notable people

* Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and Kamal Khan-Magomedov, the 2015 European Games champion in men's Judo -66 kg, are both half-Tabasaran.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabasaran People * Lezgins Ethnic groups in Dagestan Muslim communities of Russia Peoples of the Caucasus