Avars (Caucasus)
The Avars, also known as Maharuls (Avar: , , "mountaineers"), are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group. The Avars are the largest of several ethnic groups living in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The Avars reside in the North Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Alongside other ethnic groups in the North Caucasus region, the Avars live in ancient villages located approximately 2,000 meters above sea level. The Avar language spoken by the Caucasian Avars belongs to the family of Northeast Caucasian languages. Sunni Islam has been the prevailing religion of the Avars since the 13th century. Ethnonyms According to 19th-century Russian historians, the Avars' neighbors usually referred to them with the exonym Tavlins (tavlintsy). Vasily Potto wrote, "The words in different languages have the same meaning... [of] mountain dwellers [or] highlanders." Potto claimed that members of Avarian tribe also often referred to themselves by the alternate endonym , also meaning "mountaineer". Most of those known as Tavlins trace their lineage to the upper parts of two tributaries of the Sulak River: the Andiyskoe Koisu and Avarskoye Koisu. History Between the 5th and 12th centuries, Georgian Orthodox Christianity was introduced to the Avar valleys. During the Islamic conquests, Arabs invaded the Caucasus, conquering Azerbaijan in 639 and Derbent in 643. They also founded the Emirate of Tbilisi in 736. Later, the Christian kingdom of Sarir governed much of modern-day Dagestan. The Kingdom of Georgia was also Christian. However, when Sarir fell in the early 12th century and Mongol invasions led by Subutai and Jebe weakened Georgia, Christian influence in the area ended. The Avar Khanate, a predominantly Muslim polity, succeeded Sarir. The only extant monument of Sarir architecture is the 10th-century Datuna Church in the village of Datuna. The Mongol invasions seem not to have affected the Avar territory, and the alliance with the Golden Horde enabled the Avar khans to increase their prosperity. In the 15th century the Horde declined, and the Shamkhalate of Kazi-Kumukh rose to power. The Shamkhalate absorbed the Avar Khanate. From the 16th century onwards, the Persians and Ottomans began expanding their territory in the Caucasus. By the mid-16th century, what is now Dagestan, eastern Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia were under Safavid Persian rule. The area that is now western Georgia fell under Ottoman Turkish control. Although the Ottoman Turks briefly gained Dagestan during the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578–1590, Dagestan and many of its Avar inhabitants stayed under Persian suzerainty for many centuries. Despite Persian rule, many ethnic groups in Dagestan, including many Avars, retained relatively high amounts of freedom and self-governance. After the Russo-Persian War of 1722–1723, Russia briefly took Dagestan from the Persians. The Persians reestablished full control over the Caucasus again in the early 18th century under Nader Shah's Caucasus campaign and Dagestan campaign. During that same time, the Avars routed one of Nader Shah's armies at Andalal during the later stages of his Dagestan campaign. In the wake of this triumph, Umma Khan of the Avars (reigned 1774–1801) managed