This study tracks the degree of bilingualism in divers highland villages of Daghestan (Northeast Caucasus) throughout the 20th century. It displays that historically, men were more multilingual than women, yet not to the same level for all languages; that during the 20th century local L2s were gently replaced by Russian, and Daghestanian multilingualism lost its gendered nature. It asserts that these shifts were induced by the introduction of Soviet education.