Buynaksk (russian: Буйна́кск; kum, Шура / Темирхан-Шура, ''Şura / Temirxan-Şura'') is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in the
Republic of Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia sit ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, located at the foothills of the
Greater Caucasus
The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...
on the
Shura-Ozen River, southwest of the republic's
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
Makhachkala
Makhachkala ( rus, Махачкала, , məxətɕkɐˈla, links=yes),; av, Махӏачхъала, Maħaçqala; ce, ХӀинжа-ГӀала, Hinƶa-Ġala; az, Маһачгала, Mahaçqala; nog, Махачкала; lbe, Махачкъала; ...
. Population: 40,000 (1970).
History
![Temir khan shoura bouinaksk dagestan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Temir_khan_shoura_bouinaksk_dagestan.jpg)
Before 1922 Buynaksk was known as Temir-Khan-Shurá (Темир-Хан-Шура), that is, the lake or cliff of
Tamerlane
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
who is said to have camped here in 1396 after defeating Tokhtamysh during the
Tokhtamysh-Timur war. It first appears in Russian annals in the 1590s when Muscovite ambassadors passed nearby on their way to Georgia. It remained a small town ruled by a Bek. In 1830 the Russians destroyed it when it sided with
Kazi Mulla. In 1832 a Russian force under Klugenau camped here during Rosen's raid on
Gimry
Gimry (russian: Гимры) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Untsukulsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located in the mountain where Imam Shamil, the third Imam of Dagestan, was born. Population:
Geography
Gimry is locate ...
. In 1834 Klugenau built a fort on the rock above the lake and it soon became the headquarters of the Apsheron Regiment and the most important Russian fort in the interior of Degestan 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 ...
. In 1849
Hadji Murad
Hadji Murad (russian: Хаджи-Мурат, av, XӀажи Мурад; 1818 – April 23, N.S. May 5, 1852) was an important North Caucasian Avar leader during the resistance of the peoples of Dagestan and Chechnya in 1811–1864 against the ...
led a daring raid into the town. The place was unhealthy and Argutinsky drained the lake in 1858 to prevent the spread of disease.
It was granted town status in 1866.
During the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, the settlement was the administrative capital of the
Temir-Khan-Shurinsky Okrug and
Dagestan Oblast
The Dagestan Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern Dagestan within the Russian Federation. The Dagestan Oblast was created in 1860 out of t ...
. In 1920, it was the center of the ephemeral
Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC; also known as the United Republics of the North Caucasus, Mountain Republic or the Republic of the Mountaineers) was a country in the North Caucasus formed by the unification of Circassians ...
. On 13 November 1920, the government of the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
declared Dagestan's autonomy during the congress of the Dagestani people, which took place in Temir-Khan-Shura. In 1922, the town was renamed Buynaksk in honor of a revolutionary
Ullubiy Buynaksky. In May 1970, Buynaksk was badly damaged by an
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
.
In 1999, a car bomb outside an apartment building housing the families of military officers killed sixty-four people.
[''The Guardian''. September 5, 2010. ''Three Russian Soldiers Die in Blast''](_blank)
Retrieved September 5, 2010
On 13 August 2009, Buynaksk was the site of two attacks associated with the growing violence throughout Dagestan and neighboring
Chechnya
Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
. About ten men first opened fire with automatic weapons on a police post, killing four officers. The gunmen then entered a nearby sauna complex and killed seven female employees.
Three soldiers were killed, and thirty-two were wounded, in a suicide car-bombing at a military base in the city on September 5, 2010. The driver of a
Zhiguli car
Zhiguli ( rus, Жигули, p=ʐɨɡʊˈlʲi) was a designation of cars based on the Fiat 124 manufactured in Russia and the Soviet Union by AvtoVAZ (formerly VAZ) during 1970-2012 and somewhat longer in some places abroad. For the majority of ex ...
smashed through a gate at the base and headed for an area where soldiers were quartered in tents. Soldiers opened fire on the car before it reached the center of the base. The driver then rammed the car into a military truck, where it exploded. After the blast, a roadside bomb hit a car taking investigators to the scene, but no injuries were reported in the second explosion.
However, attackers claimed killing 56 Russian soldiers by the bombing.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the
framework of administrative divisions, Buynaksk serves as the
administrative center
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...
of
Buynaksky District
Buynaksky District (russian: Буйнакский район, kum, Шура якъ) is an administrativeLaw #16 and municipalLaw #6 district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of the Republic of Dagestan, forty-one in the Republic of ...
, even though it is not a part of it.
[Law #16] As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the
Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of Buynaksk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
.
As a
municipal division, the Town of Buynaksk is incorporated as Buynaksk Urban Okrug.
[Law #6]
Demographics
Ethnic groups (2002 census):
*
Avars (46.0%)
*
Kumyks
, image = Abdul-Wahab son of Mustafa — a prominent Kumyk architect of the 19th century.
, population = near 600,000
, region1 =
, pop1 = 503,060
, ref1 =
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
(31.4%)
*
Laks (6.9%)
*
Dargins
Dargins or Dargwa (, ''darganti'') are a Northeast Caucasian native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus, and who make up the second largest ethnic group in the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan. They speak the Dargwa language. The ...
(6.2%)
*
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(6.0%)
Climate
Buynaksk has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''Dfa'').
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
External links
Official website of BuynakskBuynaksk Business Directory
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Dagestan