Tabasaran people

Tabasarans (Tabassaran: Табасаранар) are a Lezgic ethnic group native predominantly to Tabasaransky district of Dagestan, partly on the plain and in cities (Dagestanskiye Ogni, Derbent, Makhachkala, etc.). Their population in Russia is about 150,000. They speak the Tabasaran language of the Lezgin branch of the Northeast Caucasian family, but the Lezgin literary language and Russian are also common. Like their neighbors the Kaitags, the Tabasarans were converted to Islam at a fairly early date. They are mainly Sunni Muslims.

History