Lezgian People - Modern Times

Modern Times

Prior to the Russian Revolution, "Lezgin" was a term applied to all ethnic groups inhabiting the present-day Russian Republic of Dagestan.

In the 19th century, the term was used more broadly for all ethnic groups speaking non-Nakh Northeast Caucasian languages, including Caucasian Avars, Laks, and many others (although the Vainakh peoples, who were Northeast Caucasian language speakers were referred to as "Circassians").

The area known as Lezgistan was divided between the Tsarist districts of Derbent and Baku in 1860, a division which continues into the twenty-first century.

Today, the Lezgins are predominately Sunni Muslims, with a Shi'a minority living in Miskindja village in Daghestan.

The Lezgins resisted Russification by simply refusing to participate in programs to relocate them out of the highlands and into lowland towns and collective farms. Thus, the majority of the Lezgins still today maintain a traditional lifestyle. Glasnost and Perestroyka policies in the late 1980s, early 1990s, together with economic collapse, and the fall of the Soviet Union, exacerbated nationalistic tensions and unleashed centrifugal ethnic forces. The Lezgins, as so many other ethnic groups, became more strident in their demands for independence from Moscow and for self-determination.

For the most part, the relations between the various ethnic groups of Dagestan are remarkably less competitive than those of the titular nationalities in the other North Caucasian republics. This may change if nationalism, as expressed in the concept of the national state, gains more currency among the larger national groups, like Lezgins or Dargins.

Lezgins live mainly in Azerbaijan and in the Russian Federation (Dagestan). The total population is believed to be around 700,000, with 474,000 living in Russian Federation. In the republic of Azerbaijan, the government census counts 180,300. However, Lezgin national organizations mention 600,000 to 900,000, the disparity being that many Lezgins claim Azeri nationality to escape job and education discrimination in Azerbaijan. Despite the assimulationist policy of the Azeri government, the Lezgin population is undoubtedly greater than it appears.

Lezgins also live in Central Asia.