While ancient Greek historians, includingHerodotus,Strabo, andPliny the Elder, referred toLegoi people who inhabitedCaucasian Albania, Arab historians of 9-10th centuries mention the kingdom of Lakz in present-day southern Dagestan.[2] Al Masoudi referred to inhabitants of this area as Lakzams (Lezgins),[3] who defendedShirvan against invaders from the north.[4]
After the dissolution of USSR there was an irredentist project to create a unified Lezgistan onLezgin-inhabited areas ofAzerbaijan andRussianRepublic of Dagestan.[7] In December 1991, various Lezgin groups held the All-National Congress of Lezgins. During it, they adopted a declaration calling for the creation of an independent Lezgistan, which would be a national entity uniting the Lezgins of Dagestan and Azerbaijan.[8]Sadval movement[9][10] andFederal Lezgian National and Cultural Autonomy, Samur[11] are the main political organisations seeking separatism.
^Sayfutdinova, Leyla (2022). "Ethnic Boundaries and Territorial Borders: On the Place of Lezgin Irredentism in the Construction of National Identity in Azerbaijan".Nationalities Papers.50 (4): 799.doi:10.1017/nps.2021.3.hdl:10023/23933.S2CID236600082.
Note: Forms of nationalism based primarily onethnic groups are listed above. This does not imply that all nationalists with a given ethnicity subscribe to that form ofethnic nationalism.
