Tarki

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Tarki (Kumyk: Таргъу, Tarğu; Russian: Тарки́) formerly also spelled Tarkou and also known as Tarku, is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of Sovetsky City District of the City of Makhachkala in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the Tarki-tau (Kumyk: Tarğu-taw) mountain. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 15,356.
Tarki had been the capital of Kumyk historical states before they were abolished by Russia. According to some scholars, Tarki sits on the site of Samandar, the capital of Khazaria until the early 8th century. In 1396, Timur passed through Tarki during the Tokhtamysh–Timur war. In the Middle Ages the Shamkhalate state is formed, lately becoming Shamkhalate of Tarki. Tarki had been the capital of the Kumyk state at least from the 16th century. This state was not abolished until 1867. Tarki is mentioned by Armenian chronicles of the 7-8th century, by Giovanni Carpini in 13th century, on the Catalan Atlas of 1375, and by Timurid historians. The shamkhals submitted to Russian authority more than once, first in the early 17th century. In 1668, the town was sacked by cossacks under Stepan Razin. The shamkhals were again obliged to submit to Russian suzerainty during Peter the Great's 1722 Persian Expedition and during Catherine the Great's 1796 Persian Expedition. Tarki finally passed to Russia under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan (1813). Eight years later, the Russians built Burnaya Fortress there, which was succeeded by Fort-Petrovsk (on the grounds of original Kumyk town called Andzhi-kala (or Anji), now known as Makhachkala.