 Khalilov was an ethnic Lak, the sixth largest ethnic group in Dagestan.In 1944 his ancestors were forcibly resettled from the mountains to the territory of a gorge in Aukhovsky (Novalaksky) District in the then-Chechen-Ingush ASSR, which was vacated following the deportation of the Chechens to Siberia and subsequently became part of the Dagestan ASSR.Khalilov himself, however, was born and grew up in the city of Buynaksk in Dagestan.