NOGAI
(Own name: Nogai)

A Caucasian people of the west-Turkic (Kipchak) language group who live partly in North Dagestan (some 30,000 Qara or Black Nogai) and partly in the Russian Province of Stavropol some 30.000 Aq or White Nogai), the first former nomadic cattle-breeders, the latter originally farmers. The Nogai separated from the Golden Horde in the fourteenth century. Until the sixteenth century their nomadic pastures were located easy of the Volga when they came under territorial pressure from Kalmyks and Russians. They came under the rule of the Crimean Tatars, and in the eighteenth century were finally pressured into the Caucasus region by Kuban Cossacks. Some of their summer pasturelands are located in the mountainous border region in Kalmykia which has resulted in disputes over land rights. The Kalmyk and Dagestan governments have attempted to solve the conflict but have had little success. Another concern of the Nogai is their unequal possibilities for cultural development in Dagestan and Stavropol.

Note: This information is taken from "The North Caucasus: Minorities at a Crossroads" written by Helen Krag and Larsh Funch.