FRIENDLY NEIGHBORS OR OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TRACKS??

RUSSIA TO THE NORTH/ IRAN TO THE SOUTHThe oldest records about the region refer to the state of Caucasian Albania in the south, with its capital at Derbent and other important centres at Chola, Toprakh Qala, and Urtseki. The northern parts were held by a confederation of Dagestani tribes. In the first few centuries AD, Caucasian Albania continued to rule over what is present day Azerbaijan and mountains of Dagestan. It was fought over in classical times by Rome and the Persian Sassanids and was early converted to Christianity. 

NO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS NO FREEDOM

In 664, the Persians were succeeded in Derbent by the Arabs who clashed with the Khazars. Although the local population rose against the Arabs of Derbent in 905 and 913, Islam was eventually adopted in urban centres, such as Samandar and Kubachi (Zerechgeran), from where it steadily penetrated into the highlands. By the 15th century, Albanian Christianity had died away, leaving a 10th-century church at Datuna as the sole monument to its existence

OLYMPIAN WRESTLER FROM DAGESTAN

MISS AUSTRIA FROM DAGESTAN

FACES OF DAGESTAN

FACES OF THE YOUNG

ANCIENT MOUNTAIN VILLAGES DATING BACK CENTURIES

Dagestan has been a scene of low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism since the 1990s. According to International Crisis Group, the militant Islamist organization Shariat Jamaat is responsible for much of the violence.^[16] Much of the tension is rooted in an internal Islamic conflict between traditional Sufi groups advocating secular government and more recently introduced Salafist teachers preaching the implementation of Sharia law in Dagestan.    SHINE YOUR LIGHT ON THE PAST AND SHOW ME THE WAY TO THE FUTURE! DID WE LEARN ANYTHING ON THE WAY? DO WE NEED TO GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN???