PhD thesis on the early modern North Caucasus, when the Ottomans, their Crimean vassals, Muscovy, and (to a lesser extent) Iran fought for supremacy in the region. Hope it’s turned into a book someday.
tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807…
Some maps show the Ottomans and Crimean Khanate encompassing certain regions in the North Caucasus, such as the Taman Peninsula and Kuban. This thesis does a good job of clarifying what that meant on the ground. Ottoman and Crimean influence was more than just nominal.
One of the most interesting regions in the Caucasus is Dagestan. In the late 16th century, Dagestan had no less than four different polities: the Shamkhalat of Tarku, Usmiat of Kaytak, principality of Tabarasan, and the Khanate of the Avars.
Dagestan was also the first region in the North Caucasus to be Islamized. Circassia only became majority Muslim in the 17th century due to Ottoman and Crimean influence. Southern Dagestan was part of the early caliphates.
Dagestan was also an Arabophone island in the Caucasus. Arabic was the language of literature, state, and inter-ethnic communication for over a millennium. Arabic’s role in Dagestan was replaced by Russian only in the early Soviet period.
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