Aguls

*Population estimates for 1994

The Agul people live in the Daghestan Autonomous Republic. They are representatives of the Balcan-Caucasus group of European race. Their spoken language is Agul from the Nakh-Daghestan group of Caucasian languages. The dialects of Keren, Koshan, and Gekhun are wide spread among the people. The Russian, Azerbaijan and Lezgin languages are also used.

In an Armenian source of the seventh century, the Agul people are mentioned as Agutakani. After the Daghestan Autonomous Republic had been formed, the Agul ethnic consolidation increased.

The traditional dress was of the general style also used in Daghestan. The traditional dwelling was a two- or three-story house with narrow windows and an inner entrance. At present day, a great number of the Aguls have moved from the mountains to the plains where they live in houses of modern style made of stone with two- or three-stories and glass verandahs.

The traditional occupation of the Agul people is agriculture and the breeding of cattle and sheep. Such trades as the production of handmade carpets, woolen fabrics, carvings, and the blacksmith works were all highly developed; while new branches of agriculture in gardening and viticulture are developing now. Hence, the mode of life and culture of the mountain Aguls has changed greatly.

The Agul believers are Muslims-Sunnites.