The People Who Refused to Vanish: The Enduring Identity of the Talysh

Imagine a people, an entire ethnos, with a population of over 77,000 officially disappearing in just 33 years, reduced on paper to a mere 85 individuals. This isn't a dystopian novel; it's the modern history of the Talysh people, an ancient Iranian ethnos whose homeland is split between Azerbaijan and Iran along the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea. Their story is one of staggering resilience against a backdrop of state-sponsored manipulation and forced assimilation. How does a culture survive when its very existence is denied in official records?In this episode of The Levant Files Deep Dive, we unravel this extraordinary story of endurance. We trace the Talysh identity back to antiquity, exploring their potential links to the legendary Cadusii people mentioned in classical texts, a connection that lives on in their collective memory and language. We’ll uncover how their unique language, rich with ancient echoes, preserves this history in its very sounds and place names, acting as a living archive of their past.Then, we journey into the heart of their culture—the sacred ironwood forests, the spiritual beliefs that blend folk Islam with pre-Islamic figures like the Black Shepherd, and the intricate material culture of their world-renowned carpets. These are the anchors that have helped them weather the storm. But we also confront the darkest chapter: the systematic Soviet policies designed to erase them from the map through language suppression, brutal deportations, and the statistical sleight-of-hand that nearly wiped them from history.Finally, we’ll see how in the 21st century, the Talysh have forged a new sanctuary in the digital world, creating a vibrant online ethnosphere to reclaim their heritage and connect a scattered people. Join us as we explore how a nation can be erased from a census but not from history, and how an identity rooted in mountains and myths found a new way to endure in the modern age.

Photo: The flag of Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic (Talysh: Tolışə pərçəm) was adopted on August 7, 1993 as the state flag of the unrecognized Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic.[