Generally, however, those connections remained undeveloped and large-scale industrialization was incompatible with the Talysh' rural, almost feudal society. So, on the one hand, the Talysh have long been under strong Azerbaijani influence which is vividly illustrated in their clothing and food. More originality has been retained in Talysh architecture, probably as a result of the humid climate particular to their region of Azerbaijan. Talysh have no written language but, in the past, the Arabic alphabet was used when necessary. Schooling is in Azerbaijani and all Talysh are practically bilingual.
Any native culture is limited to folklore.
During recent decades, Talysh were put under considerable pressure by the administration of the Azerbaijan SSR, whose aim it was to unite all minorities in the republic into one unified Azerbaijani people. This policy was relatively easy to act on with peoples of the Islamic faith, as they were simply proclaimed to be an ethnic group of the Azerbaijani people. This is borne out by the census policy which simply left several minorities of different languages unregistered. Therefore, the 1959 and following censuses do not mention the Talysh.