"Gazikumukh Shamkhalate" is a term introduced in Russian-Dagestan historiography starting from the 1950s–60s to denote the Kumyk state that existed on the territory of present-day Dagestan in the period of the 8th to 17th centuries with the capital in Gazi-Kumukh, and allegedly disintegrated in 1642. However, In the 16th century's Russian archival sources Tarki is stated to be the "capital of Shamkhalate" and "the city of Shamkhal",С. А. Белокуров. Сношения России с Кавказом — М., 1888, page 58 while "Kazi-Kumuk" is mentioned as a residence. These facts contradict "1642 disintegration" date. Moreover, there is absolutely no source before the 1950s containing the term "Gazikumukh Shamkhalate" or a statement that Gazi-Kumukh had ever been the capital of Shamkhalate. Historically, Shamkhalate is widely described as Tarki Shamkhalate or just Shamkhalate.Шамхальство Тарковское
Энциклопедический словарь Ф.А. Брокгауза и И.А. Ефрона. — С.-Пб.: Брокгауз-Ефрон. 1890—1907.
Formation of shamkhalate in the 8th to 12th centuries
Turkic-Tatar version Among the supporters of Turkic version of the creation of the Shamkhalian state is Lak historian Ali al-Ghumuqi:Али Каяев. Материалы по истории лаков. Рук. фонд. ИИЯЛ, д. 1642.Kayaev Ali. Shamkhals // Soviet Dagestan. Makhachkala: Dagknigizdat, 1990. №3-4. С. 267; Рук. Фонд. ИИАЭ ДНЦ РАН. Ф.1. Оп. 1. Д. №431, Лл. 52, 64
Also it was supported by the historian Fahrettin Kirzioglu,Çelik (Fahrettin M.). Kızılalmanın Türesini Yaşatan Şamkallar’ın Soyu // Çinaraltı, 1942, №30, 31, 33 the early 20th century historian D. H. Mamaev,"История Кавказа и селения Карабудахкент" Джамалутдина-Хаджи Карабудахкентского / Под редакцией Г. М.-Р. Оразаева. Махачкала: ООО "Центр-полиграф", 2001. Halim Gerey Sultan,Halim Gerey Soltan. Gulbin-i-Hanan. XVII y. Kirim ve Kafkas Tarihcesi // Emel, № 221. Temmuz-Agustots 1997. Mehmet-Efendi,Gulbin-i-Hanan. XVII y. (Ahmet Cevdet. Kirim ve Kafkas Tarihcesi // Emel, № 221. Temmuz-Agustot. 1997. S. 28) «После поражения Миран-Шаха от Аи Коюнлу кумыки "получили свою независимость, избрала себе хана из роди Чингизхана, которого величали по-своему "шаухал"» and others. Dagestanian historian R. Magomedov stated that:Магомедов Р.М. Общественно-экономический и политический строй Дагестана в XVIII – начале XIX веков. Махачкала: Дагкнигоиздат, 1957. С. 145. «все основания отнести этот термин к Золотой Орде, нежели арабам. Можно считать, что правитель кумыков в период господства татаро-монгол ими выдвинут в этот сан»
Russian professor of oriental studies, the Doctor of Historical Sciences I. Zaytsev, also shared the opinion that the Shamkhalate was a Kumyk state with the capital in the town of Kumuk (written thus in medieval sources). While studying works of the Timurid historians Nizam al-Din Shami and Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi, Soviet historians V. RomaskevichСборник материалов, относящихся к истории Золотой Орды, том II. Извлечения из персидских сочинений, собранные В. Г. Тизенгаузеном. М.-Л. АН СССР. 1941 and S. Volin, and Uzbek historian Ashraf Ahmedov,Шараф ад-Дин Йазди. Упоминание о походе счастливого Сахибкирана в Симсим и на крепости неверных, бывших там // Зафар-наме (Книга побед Амира Темура (сер. XV в.), в варианте перевода с персидского на староузбекский Муххамадом Али ибн Дарвеш Али Бухари (XVI в.)) / Пер. со староузбек., предисл., коммент., указатели и карта А. Ахмедова. — Академия наук Республики Узбекистан. Институт востоковедения имени Абу Райхана Беруни. — Ташкент: «SAN’AT», 2008. - С.421 as well as professor in Alan studies O. Bubenok,О. Б. Бубенок - АЛАНЫ-АСЫ В ЗОЛОТОЙ ОРДЕ (XIII-XV ВВ.); Нац. акад. наук Украины, Ин-т востоковедения им. А. Крымского call Gazi-Kumuk (also Gazi-Kumukluk in medieval sourcesНИЗАМ АД-ДИН ШАМИ КНИГА ПОБЕД ЗАФАР-НАМЭ VIII ИЗ "КНИГИ ПОБЕД" НИЗАМ-АД-ДИНА ШАМИ
https://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus3/Nizamaddin/frametext.htm) call the Shamkhalate area as the lands of Kumyks.
Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi called the Shamkhal "a natural Oghuz".Эвлия Челеби. Книга путешествий. Выпуск 2. — М., 1979. — С. 794. One of the arguments of the Turkic version is that Shamkhals were elected in the way that is traditional for Turkic peoples — tossing a red apple.Gulbin-i-Hanan. XVII y. (Ahmet Cevdet. Kirim ve Kafkas Tarihcesi // Emel, № 221. Temmuz-Agustot. 1997. Ancient pre-Muslim names of the Kumuk [today Kumukh] inhabitants, as fixed in Khuduk inscription — Budulay, Ahsuwar, Chupan and othersАликберов А. К. Эпоха классического ислама на Кавказе: Абу Бакр ад-Дарбанди и его суфийская энциклопедия «Райхан ал-хака’ик» (XI—XII вв.) / А. К. Аликберов. Ответственный редактор С. М. Прозоров — М.: Вост. лит., 2003. — are of Turkic origin.К.С. Кадыраджиев. Проблемы сравнительно-исторического изучения кумыкского и тюркского языков. Махачкала, ДГПУ, 1998 - 366с. On the graves of the Shamkhals in Kumukh there are Turkic inscriptions, as noted by professor of Caucasian studies L. Lavrov.Лавров Л.И -Эпиграфические памятники Северного Кавказа на арабском, персидском и турецком языках. Памятники письменности Востока. - Москва: Наука - 1966 - The grave itself was called by the locals "Semerdalian" after the Khazar city of Semender;Булатова А.Г. Лакцы. Историко-этнографические очерки. Махачкала, 1971 the gravestones there are patterned in a Kipchak style.Шихсаидов А.Р - Эпиграфические памятники Дагестана - М., 1985 In the "Maza chronicle" Shamkhals are described as "a branch of the Khan-Hakhan generations". Nizam al-Din Shami in his 14th century Timurid chronicle The Book of Triumph and Sheref ad-din Yezdi mentioned the land as Gazi-Kumukluk, where the suffix "luk" suffi is a Turkic linguistic sign.К.С. Кадыраджиев. Проблемы сравнительно-исторического изучения кумыкского и тюрского языков. Махачкала, ДГПУ, 1998 - 366с.
The ruler of Andi people Ali-Beg, who founded a new ruling dynasty, also had a title of "Shamkhal".Повествование об Али-Беке Андийском и его победе над Турулавом б. Али-Ханом Баклулальским как источник по истории Дагестана XVII века// Общественный строй союзов сельских общин Дагестана в XVIII - начале XIX веков. Махачкала, 1981. С. 132 According to the local story, starting from Ali-Beg until Khadjik, the rulers of their land spoke in the "language of the plains", i.e. Kumyk.Повествование об Али-Беке Андийском и его победе над Турулавом б. Али-Ханом Баклулальским как источник по истории Дагестана XVII века// Общественный строй союзов сельских общин Дагестана в XVIII - начале XIX веков. Махачкала, 1981. С. 132
Jamalutdin-haji Mamaev in the beginning of the 20th century wrote:"История Кавказа и селения Карабудахкент" Джамалутдина-Хаджи Карабудахкентского / Под редакцией Г. М.-Р. Оразаева. Махачкала: ООО "Центр-полиграф", 2001. С. 55
According to French historian Chantal Lemercier-Quelquejay, Shamkhalate was dominated by the Turkic Kumyks, and the Lak people hold the honorable title of Gazis (because of the earlier adoption of Islam).Шанталь Лемерсье-Келкеже. Социальная, политическая и религиозная структура Северного Кавказа в XVI в. // Восточная Европа средневековья и раннего нового времени глазами французских исследователей. Казань. 2009. С.272-294. Apart from that, the Shamkhalate had a feudal class of Karachi-beks, a title exclusively related to Mongol-Turkic states.
Piano Karpini mentioned from his travels that Khazaria and Lak, even before falling in the hands of the "Western Tatars", belonged to the Cumans.:Кавказ: европейские дневники XIII–XVIII веков / Сост. В. Аталиков. - Нальчик: Издательство М. и В. Котляровых, 2010. 304 с., стр. 6-7
Vasily Bartold also stated that the Arabic version is a compilation by local historians trying to merge legends with history.Бартольд В. В. Сочинения. Т.III. Работы по исторической географии - Монография. М.: Наука, 1965 - С.412-413.
The original population of the "Kazi-Kumykskiy" possession, as wrote F. Somonovich in 1796, were Dagestan Tatars (Kumyks). After the resettlement of some Lezginian peoples from Gilan province of Persia, under the rule of Shamkhal, the population mixed, and the power of Shamkhal decreased, and the new population formed their own Khanate independent of the Shamkhal dynasty:Описание Южного Дагестана Федором Симоновичем в 1796 году
and
Critics of the Arabic version V. Bartold also stated, that the term "Shamkhal" is a later form of the original form Shawkhal, which is mentioned both in the RussianBelokurov, Sergey Alekseevich (1862-1918). Russia's relations with the Caucasus: Materials, extracts. from Moscow. chapters. archive M-va inostr. del
https://www.amazon.ca/Russias-Relations-Caucasus-Issue-1578-1613/dp/551938567X and Persian (Nizam al-Din Shami and Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi) sources.Бартольд В.В. Сочинения. Т.III. Работы по исторической географии - Монография. М.: Наука, 1965 - С.412-413. Dagestani historian Shikhsaidov wrote that the version claiming Arab descent was in favor of the dynasty and clerics (the descendants of Muhammad).Шихсаидов А. Р. Дагестан в X—XIV вв. Махачкала, 1975. A. Kandaurov wrote that the Arab version was elaborated by the Shamkhals themselves. Also, the title Shamkhals is not mentioned in the works of the Medieval Arabic historians and geographers.Гусейнов Г-Р. А-К. Шавхал (Вопросы этимологии)// КНКО: Вести. Вып. № 6-7, 2001, Махачкала.
Arabs in Kumukh
In the middle of the 7th century the Rashidun Caliphate, in its expansion to the north, engaged in the conquest of Dagestan. At the beginning of the 8th century the Arabs captured Kumukh, a fact that could have obliged Laks to be in alliance with the Arabs against the Khazars. It is known that the Arabs lost power in Dagestan on successful Khazars invasion and Laks then could have been in alliance with the Khazars. Arabs had to reconquer Dagestan.Очерки истории Дагестана. — Махачкала: Даггиз. 1957. Т. 1. С. 51.
Campaigns of Maslamah and Marwan II In 734 Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, the commander of the Arab army, after one of his victories against the Khazars in Dagestan appointed several governors, one of whom was Shakhbal of Kumukh. The authority of Shakhbal could not have been permanent in Kumukh if he was an Arab. It will be correct to assume that Shakhbal was a local ruler of Kumukh who among Laks held the title Shamkhal. He was probably related to the Arabs and his title was distorted in pronunciation. Historians Barthold and Polievktov associated Shakhbal with Shamkhal, both meaning the ruler of Kumukh.Полиевктов М. А. Из истории северокавказских феодалов XVII века. «Сб. статей академика Н. Я. Марра». — М. — Л. 1935. С. 746. Bakikhanov A. K. wrote that in 734: "Abu Muslim advanced to Kumuk ... The main mosque and other buildings built by him in Kumuk still exist today. He left here Shakhbal ibn Abdullah a ruler".А. К. Бакиханов. Гюлистан и Ирам. Период второй 644—1258 г.
The chronicle Derbent-Nameh gave the following description of the formation of the Dagestani principalities: "Hamri, Kura, Ahti, Rutul, Zeyhur – they are subject to Kumuk ... for the ruler of Derbent [he] ordered to take kharaj from Kaytak, Tabarsaran and Gyubechi ... If against Shakhbal comes any enemy from [the side of] Avar or from the other side, then, when Shakhbal will assemble his troops, let there come to his aid the army of Kaytak with its ruler Hamza and with army of Tabarsaran – Mohammad Masoom and let [them] join the army of Shakhbal". In 734 there were in Dagestan such principalities with their own rulers, as Derbent, Tabasaran, , Lak and Avar which remained independent of the Arabs.
Historian Al-Kufi reported that in 738 the Arab commander Marwan ibn Muhammad "moved from Kassak, crossed the river al-Kur and headed for the city called Shaki. From Shaki he went to the land of al-Sarir." In 738 according to Derbent-Nameh, Marwan obliged the rulers of mountainous Dagestan to pay tribute.Абу Мухаммад ибн А'сам аль-Куфи. Книга завоеваний. Баку, 1981.Ибн аль-Асир, т. IV, стр. 245.