The Chamalals 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 Ca ...
,
North Caucasia living in a few villages in the
Tsumadinsky District
Tsumadinsky District (russian: Цумади́нский райо́н, Tsumadínsky rayón; av, Цӏумада мухъ, Ⱬumada muӿ) is an administrativeLaw #16 and municipalLaw #6 district ( raion), one of the forty-one in the Republic of Dage ...
on the left bank of the
Andi-Koisu river. They have their own language,
Chamalal, 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 disag ...
, which reached the Chamalal people around the 8th or 9th century. There are about 5,000 ethnic Chamalals (1999, Kubrik).
They are culturally similar to the
Avars.
Neighboring peoples are the
Godoberi, Avars,
Bagvalals, and
Tindis.
References
The peoples of the Red Book: Chamalals
Ethnic groups in Dagestan
Muslim communities of Russia
Peoples of the Caucasus
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