Kumyks
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (505,000 (est. 14.2% of the population of Republic of Dagestan); unknown number of Kumyks living outside of Dagestan) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Russia
|
503,060 |
 Ukraine
|
718 |
| Languages | |
| Kumyk, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| primarily Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Crimean Tatars, Balkars, Karachays, Nogais, Volga Tatars | |
Kumyks (Kumyk: къумукълар, qumuqlar, Russian: кумыки) are a Turkic people living in the Kumyk plateau in north Dagestan and south Terek, and the lands bordering the Caspian Sea. They comprise 14% of the population of the Russian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Kumyk language.
Notable Kumyks: Ilyas Bekbulatov, Hadise, Nariman Israpilov, Rustam Khabilov, Bakhtiyar Akhmedov, Saypulla Absaidov, Magomet-Gasan Abushev, Marid Mutalimov, Muslim Salikhov, Marat Gafurov, Nasrulla Nasrullayev, Zapir Rasulov, , Najmuddin Bammate, Temirbulat (Timour) Bammate, etc.
Some historians have speculated that the Kumyks may be descendants of the Khazars, such as the Hungarian historian Ármin Vámbéry, who believed that they settled in their present territory during the flourishing period of the Khazar Khaganate in the 8th century.
During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries CE the Kumyks had an independent kingdom, based at Tarki, and ruled by a leader called a Shamkhal.
The Russians built forts in their territory in 1559 and under Peter I. The upper terraces of the Kumyk plateau, which the Kumyks occupy (leaving its lower parts to the Nogais) are very fertile.
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Wikipedia