ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the history of Mountain Jews and their place in Dagestan and its culture. Their emigrations from country to country, from earliest times to the 20th century, is explored. The first descriptions of Mountain Jews in late 19th century ethnographic studies provide a useful record but also some lasting misunderstandings. The shifts in nomenclature and identification between Mountain Jews, Tats, and Azerbaijanis, and the significance on how they were received, is discussed. Their culture flourished pre-1930 under the Soviets on receipt of funds to develop ‘Tat socialist literature and culture’. Their way of life, particularly housing, marriages and associated rites, is described.
