The Khalwatiyya Sheikhs in Dagestan (16th-17th Centuries)

It has always been assumed that the active penetration of the Khalwatiyya tariqa to Dagestan should be dated back to the 19th century, the period of the Russian expansion to the Northern Caucasus, the Sufi teaching having allegedly been an ideological platform for the resistance against the Russian Empire. However, the materials presented in this paper clearly indicate that already in the 16th century, the Khalwatiyya sheikhs effectively preached in the Avar and Tsakhur communities of Dagestan.