Dagestan in the Context of the First Russian Modernization: to the 160th Anniversary of the Final Incorporation of Dagestan into Russia (Background)

The paper deals with the most important social-political and social-economic event of the second half of the 19th century – the final incorporation of Dagestan into the Russian Empire. Preliminary ethnocultural image of the Caucasian society. Chronologically, this event coincided with the first Russian modernization, the content of which in the Caucasus was structural transformations that covered all spheres of the economy and social life of the region and changed the previous ethnocultural image of the Caucasian society. The relevance of the study is dictated by the tasks of Russia's national policy in the North Caucasus, carried out in accordance with the Concept of the State National Policy of the Russian Federation. In this regard, the study of the history and consequences of the incorporation of certain regions of the North Caucasus into Russia is of particular relevance, which resonates
with the tasks of the nation-state building of the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR.
A major support in the implementation of this policy can be an appeal to the experience of the past – the study of socioeconomic, socio-political and cultural consequences and the significance of the annexation of Dagestan to Russia. This is the first time the problem is proposed in such a formulation. The aim of the study is to describe the results and significance of the entry of Dagestan into Russia in the context of the first Russian modernization. For this, literary sources were analyzed and general scientific methods were applied – retrospective, historical periodization, historical-comparative, historical-genetic, systemic ones, etc.
The results of the study indicate that the inclusion of Dagestan in the economic, political, legal and cultural space of Russia that has embarked on the path of capitalist development has accelerated the development of all sectors of its economy and social life.
The results obtained allowed the author to conclude that the incorporation of Dagestan into Russia was of progressive importance for the economic development and the fate of its peoples.