The Tindi are an indigenous 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 ...
,
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
living in five villages in the center area around the
Andi-Koisu river and the surrounding mountains in the northwestern part of southern Dagestan. They have their own language,
Tindi, and primarily follow
Sunni Islam
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 disagre ...
, which reached the Tindi people around the 8th or 9th century. The only time that the Tindis were counted as a distinct ethnic group in the Russian Census was in 1926, when 3,812 reported to be ethnic Tindis. In 1967, there were about 5,000 ethnic Tindis (T. Gudava). They are culturally similar to the
Avars.
The basis of the Tindis' ethnic identity is their language, but its use is limited to domestic settings and is decreasing. Therefore, the Tindis are in danger of assimilation by the Avars,
whose language is the dominant local one.
Neighboring peoples are the
Chamalals,
Avars,
Bagvalals,
Akhvakhs,
Khwarshis.
References
The peoples of the Red Book: Tindis
{{Peoples of the Caucasus
Ethnic groups in Dagestan
Muslim communities of Russia
Peoples of the Caucasus