Derbent

(from Persian der, door, and bent, barrier), a city in Dagestan ASSR. Located on the shore of the Caspian Sea; port; railroad station on the Makhachkala-Baku line. Population (1971), 59,000 (14,600 in 1897; 34,100 in 1939; 47,300 in 1959).

The city developed toward the east from a fifth-century fort, which consisted of a citadel (Naryn-kala) placed on a hill and two stone walls, which ran from the citadel to the sea and which blocked the narrow (3 km) passageway between the sea and the mountains of the Caucasus and guarded the territory of the city from the south and north. In the seventh to ninth centuries Derbent was part of the Arabian Caliphate, and in the tenth century it was the center of a feudal principality. In the 13th century it was captured by the Mongols and underwent a period of decline. In the 16th through the early 18th century it was part of Iran; in 1722 it was united with Russia but returned to Iran’s control in 1735 as a result of the Treaty of Gandzha. In 1747 the Derbent Khanate was founded with its center in Derbent; it was occupied by Russian forces in 1796. By the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 it finally was joined to Russia. The basic occupations of the people of Derbent are horticulture, viticulture, and fishing. At the end of 1904 a Social Democratic group was founded in Derbent. In February 1917 the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies was formed. In early December 1917, Soviet power was established in Derbent. From July 1918 to March 1920, the city was in the hands of bourgeois nationalists. On Mar. 25, 1920, the Red Army liberated Derbent.

Industries in Derbent include a plant that manufactures grinding machines; a wool-spinning factory (supplying raw material to rug-weaving factories in the RSFSR, Transcaucasia, and Middle Asia); tinned goods, cognac, and meat combines; wineries; a dairy; clothing factories, a rug-weaving factory; a house-building combine; a brickyard; and a plant producing wall blocks. There are many gardens and vineyards. There are evening technicums that teach machine tool- and die-making and agriculture, pedagogical and medical schools, and a school of rug-making. There is a Lezghian National Theater and a museum of local lore.

Derbent can be divided into two parts with respect to architectural design; the upper part is an old city with narrow winding streets and cul-de-sacs; the lower part is the new city with a network of straight streets and buildings of the second half of the 19th and the 20th century.

The Dzhuma Mosque Complex (eighth to 14th century), a madrasa (15th to 19th century), the Minaret Mosque (14th to 19th century), the Kyrkhliar Mosque (17th century), baths with arches and cupolas (17th to 18th century), and a mausoleum of the khans (18th century) have been preserved. In the citadel there are ruins of the khans’ palace (18th century) and a guard house (19th century, Empire style). During the Soviet period Derbent has been reconstructed; housing, schools, motion picture theaters, clubs, parks, and squares have been built.