Derbent fortress

The word “gate” was included in the name of the city in the languages ​​of many peoples: Greek historians called it Albanian (from the state of Caucasian Albania of the 3rd — 2nd century BC.) ^[2] or the Caspian Gate , Arab authors — the Main Gate. Abwab) ^[4] , the Turks by the Iron (Temir Kapysa), the Georgians by the Sea (Dzgvis-Kari). The modern name of the city "Derbent" (Darband) appears in written sources from the VII century, and means in Persian "Locked Gates" (literally "Gate Knot": "gift" - the gate, "gang" - connection, node, constipation ) ^[5] . Since the times of the Arabs, the northern wall in the XIX century was called “Kyafirskoy” (“the walls of the infidel”), because it turned towards the Khazars ^[6] .

Some sources called the “wall of Alexander the Great ” ^[7] because of the belief in the legend that it was built by the great conqueror ^{[8] [9]} . But Alexander of Macedon was never at the Derbent Gate ^[10] .

The 700 m long fortress is composed of Upper Sarmatian limestone ^[11] with packing in solution ^[6] . The height of the unevenly preserved walls is from 6.5 to 20 m, the thickness is up to 3.5 m, which is why, according to the testimony of Holstein ambassador Adam Olearius , “one can ride them in a cart” ^[2] . The path along the coast was blocked by two parallel fortress walls, which adjoined the citadel in the west, went into the sea on the eastern tip, preventing the fortress from going round through shallow water, forming a harbor for ships ^[12] . At the end of the 6th century, the level of the Caspian Sea fell, which explains the elongation of the wall into the sea ^[6] . Between the walls of 350-450 meters separated from each other lay the medieval city of Derbent ^[2] .

Derbent fortress was in fact only part of the defense system, which also included the powerful fortification Dag-bars (Mountain Wall), which controls all the mountain roads. It consisted of walls, towers, gates and the settlements guarding them, located in strategic places. Dag bars went high in the mountains 40 km to Tabasaran , although Adam Olearius calls 60 miles (almost 100 km) ^[2] . From the west, the Derbent walls adjoin the Naryn-Kala citadel ^[6] .

Despite its age, the fortress has played an important defensive role for centuries. The new owners rebuilt and renewed it, which is why today, as with the annual rings of the tree, according to the construction, one can trace the entire history of Derbent ^[13] .

The first mention of the Caspian Gates refers to the VI. BC e., it leads the famous ancient Greek geographer Hekatey of Miletus (VI century. BC. e.). He wrote about these places and Herodotus in connection with the campaign in the late VIII - early VII century BC. er Scythians to Asia, where they invaded "along the upper road, having the Caucasian Mountains at their right hand" ^[2] .

Today’s famous fortress was built in the 6th century (after 562 years) ^[4] by order of the Persian ruler Khosrov I Anushirvan (“Immortal soul”) from the Sassanid dynasty ^[2] . Moses Kalakantuysky in the VII century recalled what a heavy price for the locals carried out the grandest at the time of the fortress building in the Caucasus ^[6] . Derbent fortress locked a narrow (3 km) passage between the sea and the mountains ^{[1] [12]} , which is why any expansion of neighboring states began with attempts to capture the city and the fortress ^[3] .

From 735, Derbent and Naryn-Kala became the military-administrative center of the Arab Caliphate in Dagestan , as well as the largest trading port and center of the spread of Islam on this land ^[3] .

In the XIV century, the Derbent fortress fell without resistance in front of Timur , who not far from the Lower Dzhulat fought with Tokhtamysh ^[14] .

As a result of the Caspian campaign, the city ​​of Derbent became part of the Russian Empire . Emperor Peter I moved from the dugout , which is now a local landmark, to the Khan’s palace, to which the Derbent Beys brought city keys on a silver platter covered with Persian brocade (stored in the Kunstkamera of St. Petersburg ) with the words:

" Derbent received a foundation from Alexander the Great, and therefore there is nothing more decent and fair, as a city founded by a great monarch, to transfer to the power of another monarch, no less his great one " ^[9] .

During the Russian-Persian war of 1796, the fortress was re-taken by Russian troops under the leadership of General-in-Chief Valerian Zubov , who placed the General Staff in the citadel ^[15] .

After the formation in 1860 of the Dagestan region, the administrative center moved to Temir-Khan-Shura (now the city of Buynaksk ), and after 1867 the Derbent fortress was abolished ^{[1] [6]} . In 1870, General Komarov ordered the demolition of a nearly half-kilometer stretch, facilitating communication between the fortress and the part of the city that had grown beyond the southern wall ^[6] .

• Khan-Magomedov Selim Omarovich. Derbend fortress and Dagbara. - M. , 2002.
• Kerimov Abusaud Kerimovich. My city is Derbent. - M .: Proserpina, 1994. - 254 p.
• Kudryavtsev, A.A. Ancient Derbent. - M .: Science , 1982. - 176 p. - ( Pages of the history of our Motherland ). - 120 000 copies
• Bestuzhev-Marlinsky A. A. Letters from Dagestan . - monograph. - M .: Direct-Media, 2011.

• Artamonov M.I. Ancient Derbent (Neopr.) (PDF). Soviet archeology (1946).