Orta Asya’daki otoritesini kaybeden Hunlar, batı yönünde hareket etmiş Karadeniz’in kuzeyine ulaşmıştır. Söz konusu bu Hunların Kafkasya’ya inen kısmı bu coğrafyada etkin roller oynamıştır. Hunların haricinde Kök Türkler, Hazarlar, Kıpçaklar da Kafkasya’da varlık gösteren Türk devletlerinden olmuşlardır. Bu devletler siyasi varlığını kaybedip tarih sahnesinden çekilmiş olsa da kökenleri onlara dayanan Kumuklar, Nogaylar, Terekemeler gibi topluluklar söz konusu coğrafyada varlıklarını sürdürmeye devam etmektedirler. Dağıstan coğrafyasında Türk kökenli bu toplulukların haricinde Avarlar, Darginler, Lezginler gibi milletler de vardır. Onlar kendi kaderlerini belirleyecek siyasi bir yönetim oluşturamamışlar, Rusya’ya bağlı özerk bir cumhuriyet olarak yönetilmektedirler. Dağıstan’daki Türk gruplarının dilleri günümüz Türkiye Türkçesinden çok farklı olmasa da onlar büyük oranda Türklük bilincini yitirmişlerdir. Bunun yanı sıra “Sulak, Kayakent, Kızılyurt” gibi birçok Türkçe yer adının varlığı da coğrafyadaki Türk varlığıyla ilişkilidir. Bu çalışma Dağıstan Türklerinin kimlikleri ve bugünkü durumları hakkında bilgi sunmaya adanmıştır.

Dagestan is an autonomous republic in Russia. The capital of the country is Mahachkala, while other important cities are Derbent, Buynak, Hasavyurt, Kizilyar and Izerbash. The Autonomous Republic of Dagestan, which has an area of 50,300 km2, is surrounded by the Autonomous Republic of Kalmuk to the north, the Caspian Sea to the East, Azerbaijan to the South, Georgia to the southwest, Chechnya to the west and Northwest and the North Caucasus. It is located at a very important point in the geopolitical sense of Dagestan, which connects Russia in a geographical sense to the Eastern countries. With mountain ranges, high plateaus and many deep valleys, this country deserves the name “Dagestan”. The mountainous nature of the geography caused the population to live scattered, which made various nations closed to each other's influence in many ways. In this way, more than thirty communities in a small geography such as Dagestan have learned to live in their own state without harming each other. The arrival of tribes in Dagestan, which could not find what they hoped for in international relations, led to an increase in ethnic diversity in the region, which also led to Dagestan being called a country of languages. If you look at geography from the point of view of Turkish history, it is possible to judge that the Turkish presence provides continuity. The Turks, who migrated from Central Asia to the north of the Black Sea for various reasons, left a very deep influence on the fate of the Caucasus and, even more specifically, Dagestan. First, the Huns lost their authority in the homeland and moved in a western direction and reached the north of the Black Sea. Some of these Huns in question landed in the Caucasus and played active roles here. Besides the Huns, the Kok Turks, Khazars and Kipchaks were also among the Turkic groups that existed in the Caucasus. Kumuks, Nogays and Terkemes, whose origins date back to these Turkic groups, continue to exist in Dagestan. Today, the vast majority of Dagestan people have a sympathy for Turkey and the Turks. The languages of Turkic groups in Dagestan are not very different from modern Turkish. In Dagestan, it is possible to express themselves largely in Turkish without the need for any other language: but as a result of living dependent on Russia for a long time, the number of people using their mother tongue is gradually decreasing among the young population. In addition, the presence of many Turkish place names such as” Sulak, Kayakent, Kizilyurt " is also the most effective way to see how deep-rooted the Turkish presence in the region is.