This chapter issues a forceful call for a paradigm shift in Caspian linguistics, arguing that the field has been fundamentally distorted by the cartographic fallacy, the imposition of modern political borders onto linguistic reality. We briefly trace this fallacy to three historical forces: colonial-era documentation, twentieth-century nation-building, and the sedentarist bias of dialectology. The result is a profound misrepresentation, exemplified by a paradox where speaker perceptions of linguistic unity are fragmented by academic frameworks. In response, we propose a decolonial alternative: the Spectrum Model, grounded in speaker agency, historical mobility, and graded membership. We further advocate for a rigorous methodological revision, utilizing ethnomethodological bracketing, to prioritize indigenous metalinguistic awareness over external taxonomies. While acknowledging the volume’s own limitations as evidence of the persistent epistemological constraints, we frame this work as a necessary provocation toward epistemic justice, arguing that the path forward requires centering community voices and embracing the fluid, interconnected nature of Caspian languages.