Temirkhan Shura

Temir-Khan-Shura takes its name from a lake and an old village in the foothills of Dagestan. Local tradition linked the name to Timur, who was said to have camped by the water after his victory over Tokhtamysh. The village belonged first to the rulers of Tarki and later to the Bammat branch of their house. Burned during the Shamkhal uprising of 1831, it gave its name to a Russian fort founded nearby in 1832 and enlarged two years later as a military headquarters.