The Botlikh people (also known as Bótligh, Botlig, Botlog or Buikhatli) are an Andi–Dido people of

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

. Until the 1930s they were considered a distinct people. Since that time they have been classified as

Caucasian Avars The Avars, also known as ''Maharuls'' ( Avar: , , "mountaineers") are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group. The Avars are the largest of several ethnic groups living in the Russian republic of Dagestan. The Avars reside in the North Caucasus b ...

and have faced a campaign to have them assimilate into that population. The Botlikh are primarily

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

. They numbered 3,354 people in 1926. They speak the

Botlikh language Botlikh (also spelled Botlix) is an Andic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken by the Botlikhs in the Buikhe and Ashino villages in southwestern Dagestan, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a ...

, which belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family. According to the

Russian Census (2002) The Russian Census of 2002 (russian: Всеросси́йская пе́репись населе́ния 2002 го́да) was the first census of the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, carried out on October 9 through Oc ...

only 16 people in Russia declared themselves as Botlikhs (none of them in Dagestan), and 90 people declared speaking the Botlikh language. The number of speakers is higher, about 5,500, according to a survey by Koryakov in 2006. The village of Botlikh is just north of the

Andi Koysu The Andi Koysu (russian: Андийское Койсу - ''Andiyskoye Koysu'', ka, ანდის ყოისუ - ''Andis Qoisu'') is a river in Dagestan (Russia) and Georgia. It starts at the confluence of the rivers Pirikiti Alazani and Tu ...

River. During the

Murid War In Sufism, a ''murīd'' (Arabic مُرِيد 'one who seeks') is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by ''sulūk'' (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title murshid, '' pir'' or ''shaykh''. A '' sālik'' or Su ...

Russian forces gathered here for their final push against Shamil. During the

Dagestan Uprising (1920) The Dagestan uprising of 1920-1921 was an event during the Russian Civil War. By the spring of 1920, Bolshevik forces controlled most of the Caucasus except Georgia. The uprising, led by the Naqshbandi brotherhood that had earlier supported I ...

the Reds were defeated here several times.

References

Sources

*Wixman, Ronald. ''The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook''. (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc, 1984) p. 31 {{Peoples of the Caucasus Ethnic groups in Dagestan Muslim communities of Russia Peoples of the Caucasus