Dr Ralph D. Winter once referred to the Ingiloyans as «hidden peoples,» that is, peoples beyond the reach of missiologists and the Church at large. Even many experts on Islam do not know the Ingiloyans. The Ingiloi are an ethnographic group of Georgians living in the historical region of Sainghilo in north-western Azerbaijan, formerly known in Georgian sources as the principality of Ereti. A small number of Ingiloi have also settled in Turkey and Georgia. They speak the Ingilo dialect of the Georgian language.
Education in Azerbaijan is provided in the state language, Azerbaijani, as well as in Georgian and Russian. The Bible is available in all three languages. Through education and trade, many Ingiloyans are bilinguals or polyglots. However, Azerbaijani is gradually becoming the preferred language among Ingiloyans.
Religiously, the Ingiloi are divided mainly into Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims. The Orthodox Christians mainly live in the Gakh district, while the Muslim part lives in the Zagatala district. Formerly Muslims, the Orthodox Ingiloi were converted to Christianity in the second half of the 19th century. According to primary sources, 40 families from the village of Aliabad moved to Turkey in the 1960s as a sign of commitment to their Muslim faith. A part of the Ingiloan population remains true to their ethnic historical memory and tries to preserve their ancient Albanian origins, beliefs and traditions in their daily life and ceremonies. Ingiloyans, regardless of their religious affiliation, take part in these festivals. The Kurmukoba festivals, held in spring and autumn during the flood of the Kurmuk River since Caucasian Albania, are both Albanian and pan-Azerbaijani traditions and are rooted in primitive beliefs. This holiday is usually celebrated on the territory of the ancient Albanian temple of Kurmuk in the Gakh district.