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Anthropologically Tabasarans, like all other peoples of Lezgi stock, belong to the Caspian type of the Balkano-Caucasian race. Characteristic distinctions are dark pigmentation, a thin face and sharp features.
Religion. The Tabasarans are Muslims (Sunnites). The Islamic faith was adopted in the 8th--9th centuries, following Arab conquests. Earlier, heathenism and Judaism were widespread among the Tabasarans. Many heathen traditions have persisted, adjusted to Islam, to the present day (celebrations of sowing and ploughing, worshipping of old trees etc.).
Tabasarans, like other peoples of the Lezgi-Samur language group, are considered to be aborigines of the Caucasus. Their development and ethnogenesis have been influenced by several waves of migration, as well as by the invasion of the Arabs and Turks. Tabasarans are the first people, alongside the Lezgis, mentioned in historical sources.