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DERBENT, or DERBEND

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 64 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DERBENT, or DERBEND , a See also:town of See also:Russia, See also:Caucasia, in the See also:province of See also:Daghestan, on the western See also:shore of the See also:Caspian, 153 M. by See also:rail N.W. of See also:Baku, in 42° 4' N. and 48° 15' E. Pop. (1873) 15,739; (1897) 14,821. It occupies a narrow See also:strip of See also:land beside the See also:sea, from which it climbs up the steep heights inland to the citadel of Naryn-kaleh, and is on all sides except towards the See also:east surrounded by walls built of porous See also:limestone. Its See also:general aspect is See also:Oriental, owing to the See also:flat See also:roofs of its two-storeyed houses and its numerous mosques. The environs are occupibd by vineyards, gardens and orchards, in which See also:madder, See also:saffron and See also:tobacco, as well as See also:figs, peaches, See also:pears and other fruits, are cultivated. Earthenware, weapons and See also:silk and See also:cotton fabrics are the See also:principal products of the manufacturing See also:industry. To the See also:north of the town is the See also:monument of the See also:Kirk-See also:lar, or " See also:forty heroes," who See also:fell defending Daghestan against the See also:Arabs in 728; and to the See also:south lies the seaward extremity of the Caucasian See also:wall (50 M. See also:long), otherwise known as See also:Alexander's wall, blocking the narrow pass of the See also:Iron See also:Gate or Caspian See also:Gates (Portae Albanae or Portae Caspiae). This, when entire, had a height of 29 ft. and a thickness of about 10 ft., and with its iron gates and numerous See also:watch-towers formed a valuable See also:defence of the See also:Persian frontier. Derbent is usually identified with Albana, the See also:capital of the See also:ancient See also:Albania. The See also:modern name, a Persian word meaning " iron gates," came into use in the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th See also:century, when the See also:city was refounded by See also:Kavadh of the See also:Sassanian See also:dynasty of See also:Persia. The walls and the citadel are believed to belong to the See also:time of Kavadh's son, Khosrau (See also:Chosroes) Anosharvan.

In 728 the Arabs entered into See also:

possession, and established a principality in the city, which they called Bab-el-Abwab (" the principal gate "), Bab-el-Khadid (" the iron gate "), and Seraill-el-Dagab (" the See also:golden See also:throne "). The celebrated See also:caliph, See also:Harun-al-Rashid, lived in Derbent at different times, and brought it into See also:great repute as a seat of the arts and See also:commerce. In 1220 it was captured by the See also:Mongols, and in the course of the succeeding centuries it frequently changed masters. In 1722 See also:Peter the Great of Russia wrested the town from the Persians, but in 1736 the supremacy of See also:Nadir Shah was again recognized. In 1796 Derbent was besieged by the Russians, and in 1813 incorporated with the See also:Russian See also:empire.

End of Article: DERBENT, or DERBEND

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