Bashly in Dagestan

Cities of Khazaria. Kromos Estatium
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     The khazar cities here include not only those cities that were built by the khazar architects, but also those that were built before the arrival of the khazars, were used by the khazars for their needs and tasks for a long time.
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Bashly in Dagestan **
     This city has been known since khazar times. It is associated with a settlement in Dagestan near the modern village of Bashlykent.
     People have lived here since the time when scythians came to the area of Chirmi and Haji-kutan in the 9th century before Christ.
     Several settlements near the village of bashlykent are associated with the city of Bashly, one of which is the Shakhsenger settlement, where the remains of the fortress walls are preserved. Here in ancient times there were ramparts and walls, a Citadel was built, 36 observation and watchtowers were built into the walls.
     Archaeologists believe that the palace of the hunnic ruler Alp-Ilitver was located here in the Citadel of the fortress. The large burial ground near the fortress speaks about the large population of the city.
     Not far from the Shakhsenger settlement, in a day's horse ride from it, there are the remains of another fortress on the site of the Senger settlement. Nadir Shah stood in this fortress for a while in the middle of the 18th century, when he briefly visited the city of Bashly. He strengthened and decorated this fortress, built a castle there, where he brought precious wives and dishes from which they were made.
     The mountaineers did not want to submit to Nadir Shah, and in two months they were able to destroy almost half of his troops, attacking him from their gorges. Striking blow after blow, the freedom-loving mountaineers forced the restless Nadir Shah to leave Dagestan.
     Was in the city of Basle and Russian Tsar Peter the First, who, to the surprise of historians, local residents have obeyed what is written in the manuscripts stored in Bashly, where it is said that here in Bashly Peter Ullubash (Peter Large Head) glorified the arms of the Rus in the city of Bashly.
     Historians believe that Bashly fortress was built on one of the shopping roads, attributable to the Silk Road.
     Residents of the city of Bashly, who call themselves bashlyans, believe that the city got its name from the word «bash», which means head. They claim that Bashly was the center, the head of smaller fortresses and settlements in the Bashly district.
     Many local legends, as well as direct and indirect historical passages, say that the city of Bashly became a single center of several settlements in the Bashly district.
     Local residents since the time of these lived in several dozen settlements, the inhabitants of which had the ability to work hard, which is why they lived in prosperity. Rumors of this spread far and wide, spreading along the road and reaching the ears of the khans and shahs, who saw the area as rich and rich beyond belief. Why did the Bashly region become subject to constant attacks.
     Then the local leaders of the largest settlements, according to various sources, three, five or seven, decided to unite and built fortresses, and among them was the strongest, which became the Head of the entire enterprise and called Bashly.
     Apparently, these legends reflected the difficult and long, centuries-old path of development of the bashlyn society as part of the scythians, persians, khazars, and arabs from ancestral settlements to large territories of the feudal type, while preserving the communal system of self-government.
     Local old-timers tell stories that their ancestors preserved for them, and repeated by famous historians of caucasian antiquities, about the stay of many historical characters in Bashly.
     According to one of them, Anushirvan and the khazar ruler Khagan met here in Bashly, where they exchanged expensive gifts and their wives. After that, they concluded an agreement on the construction of persians fortresses on the Caspian passage, through which only the khazars and persians could pass.
     One such story tells about Timur's stay here, which was located on a high hill, from where he surveyed the entire region. This hill is called Temir Mountain.
     The name of the city of Bashly was fixed in the historical literature for it in the late middle ages. Earlier, according to Osson and many other historians, it could have had the names Vashli, Varachan, Varshan, Barsil, Baslasa, which are quite correlated with the name Bashly.
     Archaeological excavations and their careful analysis show that since the end of the 7th century, it was the summer residence and capital of the Khazar Khagan.
     Researchers of the ancient history of the Caucasus, in particular Moisey Khorensky and Moisey Kagankatvatsi, put forward provisions according to which the names of the city lead to the names of the ancient plain tribe barsil, who inhabited the territory of the Terek basin, and who in the area north of Derbent had a central stronghold for annual meetings and trade.
     The barsils of savir and bulgar were one of the divisions of the khazars, who, starting from the seventh century, made campaigns against Armenia.
     In the 8th century, the arabs, waging war with the khazars, went through Derbent to the valleys of the North Caucasus, where the first who offered them stubborn resistance were the city self-defense units barsil and savir, formed in Bashly, which then belonged to the Khazaria.
     Bashly was a very large city, accommodating 15 thousand permanent residents, and during the annual meetings and fairs, up to 25 thousand people arrived here. The fortress of the city could accommodate up to a thousand fighters. In the city and its suburbs lived at least two thousand families. The city itself, since the 15th century, was governed by the citizens themselves.
     Archaeological data collected in the surrounding area of Bashlykent suggest that the center of the region has changed its location more than once, moving from one fortress to another. At the same time, the new capital of the region did not change its name. The change of location of the city and the transition of citizens to other places is associated with the persistent resistance of the population of the region to the invaders, who destroyed the fortresses of the inhabitants of this area.
     At the end of the 12th century, according to historians, the last khazars settled here, when this place was called Barshalia.
     The traveler Jakob Reinegs, who visited Dagestan in the late 18th century, calls this city Barshly and mentions its region as one of the five regions belonging to utsmiy, one of the rulers of Kaitag.
     At the end of the 18th century, Bashly was considered a city where one of the centers of the Kaitag utsmiystvo was located.
     In the early 19th century, Bashly was captured by the proconsul of the Caucasus, general Yermolov, after which it lost its significance as a city. Finally, the city of Bashly was destroyed by general Komarov for disobedience to the russian authorities.
     Around the same time, its name Bashlykent appeared, which with some interruptions has been preserved to this day.
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