History

Description

According to one theory, Jews began settling in Derbent in ancient times and, during the Khazar rule, were an important element of the city. Linguistic and historical evidence suggests that Jews started arriving from Iran and Mesopotamia to Eastern Transcaucasia no later than the mid-6th century CE, settling in its eastern and northeastern regions among the Tat-speaking population and likely adopting their language. This migration may have been linked to the suppression of Mar Zutra II’s rebellion in Iran (simultaneous with the Mazdakite movement) and the settlement of its participants in new fortifications around Derbent.

According to historian Y. D. Brutsukus, some Jews migrated from Persia to Derbent starting in the 5th century CE. It is known that the rulers of the Khazar Kaganate converted to Judaism under the influence of the Jews of the Eastern Caucasus (today’s Mountain Jews) in the early 9th century, who were then the only bearers of a monotheistic religion in the region. According to legend, this conversion followed a debate among representatives of three religions. Over time, all nomadic kaganates of the Eurasian steppes, as well as Khazaria’s neighbors (Danube and Volga Bulgaria, Rus, and Alania), passed through Derbent.

The Khazar case is unique because Judaism, a national religion of the Jews, was chosen as the official religion despite the Jewish people lacking their own statehood since the Diaspora. The Mountain Jews also included later immigrants from Iran, Iraq, and Byzantium. Derbent was a key center of early medieval trade during and after Khazar rule. Radhanite (wandering Jewish merchants) played a crucial role in establishing the Jewish community in Derbent.

A well-known story, similar to that depicted in the film «The Thief of Baghdad», reportedly occurred in Derbent. According to legend, swindlers from Baghdad arrived in medieval Derbent, convincing local Jews of the imminent arrival of the Messiah (Mashiach). While the people gathered in the city square, the visitors looted their homes.

The earliest material artifacts of the Mountain Jews (tombstones near the city of Majalis in Dagestan) date back to the 16th century. There was a continuous strip of Mountain Jewish settlements between Kaitag and the Shamakhi region. In 1742, Mountain Jews fled from Nadir Shah, and in 1797–1799, from the Qazi-Qumuq Khan. In the mid-19th century, Mountain Jews began settling beyond their original ethnic territory, near Russian fortresses and administrative centers in the North Caucasus: Buynaksk (Temir-Khan-Shura), Makhachkala (Petrovsk-Port), Andrei-Aul, Khasavyurt, Grozny, Mozdok, Nalchik, Dzhagonas (near Ust-Dzheguta), and others.

In the 1820s, the first contacts between Mountain Jews and Russian Ashkenazi Jews were noted, strengthening by the late 19th century with the development of the Baku oil industry.

After Russia’s conquest of Dagestan, many Jews concentrated in Derbent, which became the religious center for Mountain Jews. In 1897, the city had 2,200 Jews (15% of the population); in 1903, 3,500; and in 1989, 13,000.

In 1869, Grozny was granted city status, attracting new settlers. By 1874, 1,260 Mountain Jews lived in Grozny (out of a total population of 8,450). The community’s main occupations were trade and leatherworking. The Jewish quarter in Grozny, known as the Red Jewish Sloboda, was named for its red-tiled rooftops, contrasting with the straw-covered roofs of Cossack homes. The quarter consisted of several blocks. Later, the Belikovsky Bridge connected the Sloboda to the city center, boosting its economic development.

During the Civil War in Dagestan, many Mountain Jews supported the Bolsheviks, often leading to their arrests and executions. Muslim detachments looted and killed Jews in the village of Nyugdi, and the Jewish village of Mamrach was entirely wiped out. Fleeing massacres, Mountain Jews escaped from villages to cities, particularly Derbent and Temir-Khan-Shura. After the Civil War, few returned to their villages.

Mountain Jews were first counted as a distinct group in the 1926 Soviet census (25,900 people).

In the 1920s–1930s, Mountain Jewish literature, press, theater, and dance flourished.

In the mid-1920s, Mountain Jews in Dagestan lived in villages such as Ashaga-Arag, Mamrash (now Sovetskoye), Khadzhal-Kala, Khoshmenzil (now Rubas), Aglobi, Nyugdi, Jarag, and Majalis.

During this period, an attempt was made to resettle some Mountain Jews to the Kizlyar district, where two settlements were established: Larina and Kalinina. However, most residents later abandoned these settlements. In 1938, the Tat language was declared one of Dagestan’s ten official languages. From 1930, several Mountain Jewish collective farms were established in Crimea and the Kursk district of Stavropol Krai.

In the 1930s, Mountain Jews were officially referred to as «Tats», and everything related to them was termed «Tat».

In 1938, some Mountain Jews faced forced deportation.

During World War II, in 1942, the German army occupied parts of the North Caucasus, but the main centers of Mountain Jewish settlement were not occupied. Only two significant Mountain Jewish settlements were under occupation: a Jewish collective farm in Bogdanovka near Mozdok and the Jewish quarter in Nalchik. On September 25, 1942, over 470 Jews, mostly women, the elderly, and children, were executed in Bogdanovka. On October 19, 1942, German punitive forces took 40 Mountain Jewish families (about 300 people) from a hamlet near Bogdanovka to the village of Kurskaya, where they were shot at a brick factory courtyard.

In the summer of 1942, the Mountain Jewish collective farm named after Shaumyan in Crimea’s Evpatoria district was destroyed, with 114 civilians killed. (Bogdanovka and the Shaumyan collective farm were established in the 1920s by the OZET, the Society for the Settlement of Jewish Toilers.)

In September 1942, all Jewish residents of the Kavminvody region were transported to Mineralnye Vody in special trains, where over 6,000 people, including Mountain Jews from Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk, were executed.

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, most Jews emigrated from Derbent, and by 2002, only 2,000 remained. The city has an active synagogue and community center. The chief rabbi of Derbent, Ovadia Isakov, has served since 2004. On July 25, 2013, an unknown assailant attempted to assassinate the rabbi near his home. He was hospitalized with severe gunshot wounds. The incident was classified as a terrorist act, raising concerns among local Jews about potential further attacks.