Kumyks in the context of "Northern Caucasus"

Makhachkala, previously known as Petrovskoye (1844–1857) and Port-Petrovsk (1857–1921), or by the local Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and largest city of Dagestan, Russia. The city is located on the Caspian Sea, covering an area of 468.13 square kilometres (180.75 square miles), with a population of over 623,254 residents, while the urban agglomeration covers over 3,712 square kilometres (1,433 square miles), with a population of roughly 1 million residents. Makhachkala is the fourth-largest city in the Caucasus, the largest city in the North Caucasus and the North Caucasian Federal District, as well as the third-largest city on the Caspian Sea, after Baku and Rasht. The city is extremely ethnically diverse, with a minor ethnic Russian population.

The city's historic predecessor is the port town of Anji (Andzhi), which was located in Kumykia, and which was a part of the possessions of the Tarki state, the capital of Kumyks known from the 8th century.

Murad al-Daghistani, Murad Ajamat (Kumyk: Murat Acamat, 1917–1984) was a pioneering Iraqi photographer of Kumyk descent. who was active in Mosul from the mid-1930s, and later worked in Baghdad. He achieved international recognition for the quality of his photographs which recorded scenes of every-day life and people.

Kumyk (къумукъ тил, qumuq til, قوموق تیل) is a Turkic language spoken by about 520,000 people, mainly by the Kumyks, in the Dagestan, North Ossetia and Chechen republics of the Russian Federation. Until the 20th century Kumyk was the lingua franca of the Northern Caucasus.

Kumykia (Kumyk: Qumuq, Къумукъ), or rarely called Kumykistan, is a historical and geographical region located along the Caspian Sea shores, on the Kumyk plateau, in the foothills of Dagestan and along the river Terek. The term Kumykia encompasses territories which are historically and currently populated by the Turkic-speaking Kumyk people. Kumykia was the main "granary of Dagestan". The important trade routes, such as one of the branches of the Great Silk Road, passed via Kumykia.

The Shamkhalate of Tarki, or Tarki Shamkhalate (also Shawhalate, or Shevkalate; Kumyk: Таргъу Шавхаллыкъ, romanized: Tarğu Şawxallıq) was a Kumyk state in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, with its capital in the ancient town of Tarki. It formed on the territory populated by Kumyks and included territories corresponding to modern Dagestan and adjacent regions. After subjugation by the Russian Empire, the Shamkhalate's lands were split between the Empire's feudal domain with the same name extending from the river Sulak to the southern borders of Dagestan, between Kumyk possessions of the Russian Empire and other administrative units.

At some point the Shamkhalate had vassals from the Caspian Sea to Kabarda and Balkaria. The Shamkhals also possessed the title of the Vali of Dagestan and had their residence in the ancient Khazar-Kumyk mountainous shelter.

Shamkhal, or Shawhal (Kumyk: Şawxal) is a title used by Kumyk rulers in Dagestan and the Northeast Caucasus during the 8th–19th centuries. By the 16th century, the state had its capital at Tarki and was thus known as the Shamkhalate of Tarki.

A chokha, also known as a cherkeska, is a woolen coat with a high neck that is part of the traditional male dress of peoples of the Caucasus. It was in wide use among Avars, Eastern Armenians, Abazins, Abkhazians, Azerbaijanis, Balkars, Chechens, Circassians, Georgians, Ingush, Karachays, Kumyks, Nogais, Ossetians, Tats, the peoples of Dagestan, as well as Terek and Kuban Cossacks from the Russian Empire, who adopted it from the aforementioned peoples.