Buynaksk (kum. Temir-Khan-Shura) is a city in the south of Russia, in the Republic of Dagestan. This is the administrative center of the Buynaksk region (which is not included). The city of republican significance, forms the municipality of the city of Buynaksk with the status of an urban district as the only settlement in its composition.
Buynaksk was founded in 1834 as the Temir-Khan-Shura fortress. The legend connects the name with the name of Tamerlane, Shura - the Kumyk "lake", that is, "Lake Tamerlane" (the military leader allegedly rested on its shore). In 1866 the fortress was transformed into a city, in 1922 it was renamed Buinaksk in honor of the Dagestan revolutionary U.D.Buynakskiy.
The
city is located on the mountain river Shura-Ozen, 41 kilometers from
Makhachkala. Railroad station. Highway junction.
In the
vicinity of Buinaksk there is a climatic resort area
(anti-tuberculosis sanatoriums, etc.).
Foundation
of the fortress
According to legend, the foundation of the city
is associated with the name of Tamerlane (Temir-Khan). In 1396, the
army of Tamerlane was camped near the lake, called by the locals
Temir-Khan-Shura (Shere - in the Kumyk language "lake", that is,
"Lake Tamerlane"). There is a version about the Dargin origin of
this name (Shurai - lake) - however, there is no reliable data that
the Dargins could have left this name in this area. Moreover, the
word "shurai" is a Bulgarian superstratum in the Dargin language.
The lake itself was drained in 1854. At the place where the troops
were stationed, a settlement of the same name arose, which was first
part of the possession of Tarkov shamkhal, then into the special lot
of Bamat.
In 1832, a Russian fortification with the same name
was founded near the village, in 1834 it was expanded and designated
as the seat of the commander of the troops in Northern Dagestan. On
November 11, 1843, Imam Shamil laid siege to this fortification,
which was defended by a garrison of 4 thousand people, but could not
take it, and on December 15, he was defeated by Major General RK
Freitag who came to the rescue. In 1847, the fortress was designated
as the seat of the civil unit manager in the Caspian region.
Temir-Khan-Shura before 1917
Since 1866, Temir-Khan-Shura
received the rights of a city and became the administrative center
of the Dagestan region. At the end of the 19th century, the city had
9089 inhabitants (counting the garrison of 2427 people): 4633
Orthodox, 1950 Jews, 1241 Muslims (of which 455 are Shiites, the
rest are Sunnis), 685 Armenians, 433 Catholics, 121 Protestants and
26 Old Believers. There were 634 residential buildings and 128 shops
and warehouses; real, parochial and primary city schools, women's
gymnasium, 2 Jewish schools, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a
military hospital, a printing house, photography and a library of a
real school. 4 churches (2 Orthodox (St. Andrew's Cathedral),
Catholic and Armenian), 2 mosques, 2 synagogues. 10 factories and
plants (brewing, brick, soap making, etc.). Monuments: to Prince MZ
Argutinsky-Dolgorukov, private Agafon Nikitin and in memory of the
capture of Gunib.
XX century
In November 1919 - May 1920,
Temir-Khan-Shura was the seat of the government of the Mountain
Republic of the North Caucasus. After that, until the spring of
1920, it was under the rule of the Denikin Government of the South
of Russia, and was later captured by the Reds.
On November
13, 1920, at the extraordinary congress of the peoples of the
Caucasus in Temir-Khan-Shura, the People's Commissar for
Nationalities I. V. Stalin proclaimed Dagestan an autonomous
republic. In 1922 the city was renamed in honor of UD Buinakskiy, a
participant in the struggle for Soviet power in Dagestan.
Buynaksk was badly damaged during the earthquake on May 14, 1970.
On September 4, 1999, a terrorist attack took place in Buynaksk,
which marked the beginning of a series of explosions of residential
buildings.
In the vicinity of Buynaksk, rock carvings of the late 2nd - early 1st millennium BC have been preserved.