Arabic Period of Islamization in Daghestan in the Seventh­–Ninth Centuries

Abstract

Dagestani orientalists Amri Shikhsaidov and Shamil Shikhaliev study the Arab Period of islamization in Dagestan in the seventh-ninth centuries. As is known, the spread of Islam in different frontier regions of the Arab Caliphate happened in the context of rapid Arab conquests in the form of jihad raids. In the North-East Caucasus the Arabs encountered serious resistance from the Khazar Khaganate and local feudal political forces. Medieval written sources show continuity of Dagestani resistance against the Arab advance in the region. By the mid-tenth century Islam was established only in the town of Derbent and neighboring lands. The process of islamization of the region passed two distinct periods. In the first of them Islam was propagated by the Arab missionaries. In the second period from the tenth through the sixteenth centuries islamization was carried out by succeeding waves of Turkic conquerors including the Seljuks, Timur as well as local ghazis. Gradually, Islam and Arabic language became an integral part of the culture of different Dagestani peoples.