Antiquity and Middle Ages The Jewish population of Derbent and its neighborhood are descended from a military colony established by the Persian emperor
Khosrow I in the 6th century. Under the
Khazar Khaganate the Jewish community of Derbent increased.
Jewish-Khazar correspondence, in particular the
Schechter Letter, also mentions Derbent and local Jews in the process of accepting Judaism by the Khazars. The
medieval-era Jewish merchants played a significant role in the activity of the
Silk Road. Derbent was one of the centers of early medieval merchants during and after the Khazar Khaganate.
After joining the Russian Empire In the 18th century, Jews were persecuted during the
Russo-Persian Wars, and the
Persian ruler
Nader Shah forced many Jews to convert to Islam. After Russia conquered Dagestan, many Jews concentrated in Derbent and the city became the religious center of the Mountain Jews. Rabbis of Derbent, Eliyahu ben Mishael Mizrachi (1781-1848) and Yitzhak ben Yaakov Mizrachi (1795-1877) were known for their scholarship. Rabbi
Yaakov Yitzhaki (1848-1917) in the 1870s established contacts with the Jewish scholars of St. Petersburg. In 1907 he emigrated to
Eretz-Israel. The main occupation of the Jews of Derbent was viticulture and winemaking, madder cultivation, which fell into decline by the end of the 19th century, and fisheries since the beginning of the 20th century. The largest fishing company in Dagestan was owned by the Dadashev family. The Jews of Derbent conducted a large wholesale trade, mainly in agricultural products, and owned about 30 manufacturing shops and 160 gardens. • In 1904, Rabbi Yashaiyo Rabinovich (1904 -1937?) opened the Mountain Jewish School. • In 1904-1919, the Jewish theater worked under the direction of Rabbi Yashaiyo Rabinovich. • In 1914, there were Jewish schools and a
Realschule in Derbent. Soldiers and officers robbed and murdered Jews.
Soviet Union • During the Revolution and Civil War in Dagestan (March 1917 - May 1919), many Jews from the mountain villages settled in Derbent, fleeing the disasters of the war. In 1926, 6,745 Jews lived in Derbent, in 1939 - 8,100, in 1959 - 12,700, in 1970 - 14,600, in 1979 - 12,900, in 1989 - 12,700. • In the late 1980s and early 2000s, many Derbent Jews left for Israel, the United States, Germany, Canada and other countries. Representatives of the Soviet elite, mainly in Dagestan, denied the connection of the Mountain Jews with other Jews. Mountain Jews were registered in official statistics as
Tat, which constituted the vast majority of this community in the
RSFSR. After the collapse of the
USSR in 1991, most of the Jews emigrated from Derbent. In 2002 there were 2,000 Jews in the city. The names of 1732 Jewish soldiers who fell in battle, died from wounds and went missing are carved on the memorial plate. This list is not complete. Search work to clarify the front-line fates of the war participants continues. ==Mountain Jews in censuses==