suku Tabasaran

Tabasarans (Lezgian: Табасаранар) are a Lezgin sub-ethnic group native predominantly to Tabasaransky district of Dagestan, partly on the plain and in cities (Dagestanskiye Ogni, Derbent, Makhachkala, etc.). Their population in Russia is about 150,000. They speak the Tabasaran language of the Lezgin branch of the Northeast Caucasian family, but the Lezgin literary language and Russian are also common. Like their neighbors the Kaitags, the Tabasarans were converted to Islam at a fairly early date. They are mainly Sunni Muslims.

The earliest mention of the Tabasarans are found in 7th century Armenian sources referring to them as an independent people of Dagestan. Arab historians referred to their land as "Tabarstan". In the 8th century, the Arabs conquered parts of the Caucasus including the territory of the Tabarsarans. In the 15th century, the Tabasrans formed a powerful principality called the Maisumat of Tabarsaran. However, the state was eventually divided into two due to internal struggles and both were conquered by the Russians in the early 19th century.

The main language of the Tabasaran people is the Tabasaran language (табасаран чIал‎, tabasaran ҫ̇al), which belongs to the Lezgic branch of Northeast Caucasian language family. It is closely related to neighbouring Lezgian and Aghul languages. UNESCO classifies Tabasaran language as "vulnerable". According to 2002 Russian census 97% of the Tabasaran can speak their ancestral language and a further 87% of them know Russian.

The vast majority of Tabasarans profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Shafi'i school. Some elements originated from pre-Islamic Tabasaran beliefs, such as deity names and annual spring celebration known as Elbetsan (parallel to Iranic Nowruz and Lezgian Yaran-Suvar) have been preserved in the contemporary Tabasaran society.