Darial Pass was historically most important as the one of only two crossing of the Caucasus mountain range, the other being the Derbent Pass, and has been long fortified — at least since 150 BC.

By the 8th century, " Albania " had been reduced to a strictly geographical and titular ecclesiastical connotation, and was referred to as such by medieval Armenian historians ; on its place sprang a number principalities, such as that of the Armenian principality and kingdom of Khachen, along with various Caucasian, Iranian and Arabic principalities: the principality of Shaddadids, the principality of Shirvan, the principality of Derbent.

On the occasion of the peace of Nystad ( 1721 ), which terminated the Great Northern War's 21 years of struggle between Russia and Sweden, Bestuzhev designed and had minted a commemorative medal with a panegyrical Latin inscription, which so delighted Peter ( then at Derbent ) that he sent a letter of thanks written with his own hand and his portrait set in brilliants.

They were provided with a Cossack escort as they traveled between Tarki and Derbent, but when a Tartar dignitary claimed that this would only provoke danger, the escort was bypassed for the security of the Tartar chiefs.

Often identified with the legendary Gates of Alexander, Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia ( 8th century BCE ).

Derbent is well served by public transport, with its own harbor, a railway going south to Baku, and the Baku to Rostov-on-Don road.

According to Arab historians, Derbent, with population exceeding 50, 000, was the largest city of the 9th century Caucasus.

In the 10th century, with the collapse of the Arab Caliphate, Derbent became the capital of an emirate.

This emirate often fought losing wars with the neighboring Christian state of Sarir, allowing Sarir to occasionally manipulate Derbent politics.

As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the City of Derbent — an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.

Derbent is twinned with:

At the end of August they left Pyatigorsk and arrived in fortress Groznaya ( now Grozny ) and from there departed at the end of October with a Cossack escort to Khasavyurt, crossed Sulak, travelled to the Caspian coast through Derbent and Kuba, and arrived in Baku on 9 ( 21 ) December.

The wall of the Sassanid citadel in Derbent, Russia, is often identified with the Gates of Alexander.

The Alexander romance identified the Gates of Alexander, variously, with the Pass of Dariel, the Pass of Derbent, the Great Wall of Gorgan and even the Great Wall of China.

In later versions of the Christian legends, dated to around the time of Emperor Heraclius ( 575-641 AD ), the Gates are instead located in Derbent, a city situated on a narrow strip of land between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus mountains, where an ancient Sassanid fortification was mistakenly identified with the wall built by Alexander.

In the Travels of Marco Polo, the wall in Derbent is identified with the Gates of Alexander.

The Gates of Alexander are most commonly identified with the Caspian Gates of Derbent whose thirty north-looking towers used to stretch for forty kilometers between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, effectively blocking the passage across the Caucasus.

Not all Muslim travelers and scholars, however, associated Dhul-Qarnayn's wall with the Caspian Gates of Derbent.

A similar Sassanian defence wall and fortification lies on the opposite side of the Caspian Sea at the port of Derbent, with an extraordinarily well preserved Sassanian fort ; that wall runs to the Caucausus mountains.

Genghis Khan eventually granted Jebe permission and with Subutai as his second-in-command, the Mongols advanced to the city of Derbent, which refused to surrender.

Derbent has an important strategic location in the Caucasus: the city is situated on a narrow, three-kilometer strip of land between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus mountains.

The Caliph Harun al-Rashid spent time living in Derbent and brought it into great repute as a seat of the arts and commerce.

He achieved great fame especially for leading the second and last Arab siege of the Byzantine capital Constantinople, and for strengthening the Muslim presence in the Caucasus, among other things as the " founder of Islamic Derbent ".

In 1073 or 1074, he accompanied the Georgian army on an expedition to Shirvan up to the Caspian shores, where George recaptured the fortress of Sharaban from the invaders from Derbent for his cousin, the shirvanshah Ahsitan I.

During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus.

During the 16th century, Derbent was the arena for wars between Turkey and Persia ruled by the Iranian Safavid dynasty.

He travelled down the Volga River, reached Derbent, then Baku and later Persia by crossing the Caspian Sea, where he would live for one year.

The present name transliterated ( volgarised ) as Derbent is actually the Persian Darband, means a point in mountain that one cannot climb further.

The inscription was studied by Russian expert Yevgeni Pakhomov, who assumed that the associated campaign was launched to control the Derbent Gate and that the XII Fulminata has marched out either from Melitene, its permanent base, or Armenia, where it might have moved from before.

The first intensive settlement in the Derbent area dates from the 8th century BCE ; the site was intermittently controlled by the Persian monarchs, starting from the 6th century BCE.

Movses Kagankatvatsi left a graphic description of the sack of Derbent by the hordes of Tong Yabghu of the Western Turkic Khaganate in 627.

In 654, Derbent was captured by the Arabs, who transformed it in an important administrative center and introduced Islam to the area.

In the 14th century, Derbent was occupied by Timur's armies.

During the Persian Expedition of 1796, Derbent was stormed by Russian forces under Valerian Zubov.

After his martyrdom by the Mazkutian king on the field of Vatnean ( near Derbent ), his disciples conveyed his body back to Artsakh and buried him in Amaras, which had been built by Grigor the Illuminator and Grigoris himself.

Whilst travelling in the Caucasus he was taken hostage by Usmey Khan of Khaïtakes and died of ill treatment in captivity in Derbent.

An early expedition to Derbent was ordered by the Caliph Umar ( 586 – 644 AD ) himself, during the Arab conquest of Armenia where they heard about Alexander's Wall in Derbent from the conquered Christian Armenians.

Then when ` Abdur Rehman wanted to advance towards Derbent, Shehrbaz of Armenia informed him that he had already gathered full information about the wall built by Dhul-Qarnain, through a man, who could supply all the necessary details ...

Led by the admiral Fyodor Apraksin, it participated in Peter's Persian campaign of 1722-1723 and the Russo-Persian War ( 1804-1813 ), assisting the Russian army in capturing Derbent and Baku during the Persian Expedition of 1796.

The Friday Mosque of Derbent ( Bab al-Awbab ), dating to the city's refoundation by Maslamah

As a municipal division, the City of Derbent is incorporated as Derbent Urban Okrug.