Wars and conflicts in the Caucasus region have broken the fate of many people. Refugees became unique in their culture peoples and nationalities. Such cultural communities include Shushin Armenians, Sukhumi Georgians, Baku Armenians. Many of them have become disenfranchised refugees and are not able to return to their homes and homes until now. What kind of people are these - Baku Armenians? What is the history and culture of this people?
Baku Armenians
Baku Armenians are a unique community in which Armenian culture is closely intertwined with Russian, Armenian, Azerbaijani culture and the culture of other peoples living in Baku.
In Baku, there are currently about 30 thousand Armenians who managed to survive the bloody massacre of 1990 and return to the city. They are doing their best to revive their unique Baku community. How and under what conditions was it formed?
Residents of Baku in Soviet times are mainly Russian-speaking people, which consisted of Jews, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Tatars, Germans, Russians. The city of intelligent people (as a percentage of the total number of citizens), ranked third after Moscow and Leningrad in the number of educated people. Baku is a city of oil that fed the entire USSR. Here the main scientific institutes were concentrated and the best professional personnel were concentrated. All these factors formed the mentality and peculiar approach to life, their culture, and, as a result, the unique people - Baku People. One of the segments of this nation was the Baku Armenians.
History of Armenians in Baku
The exact date of the appearance of Armenians in Baku is unknown. Many learned historians suggest that the ancient city of Bhagavan is a modern city of Baku. If this is so, then in the 8th century Armenian churches already existed here, therefore, Armenians also lived. In the 15th century, the written sources of the traveler Bakuvi indicate that the population of Baku is predominantly Christian.
In 1723, during the campaign of Peter the Great in Persia, Russian troops stopped in Baku, moreover, in the Armenian loaf shed.
Armenians in Baku, as in other cities, were engaged in crafts and trade.
In 1859, many Armenians moved to Baku from Shemakha, where a major earthquake occurred. In the same year, the Baku province was formed.
In 1891, 24,500 Armenians already lived in Baku.
Armenians played an important role in the life of the city. The bulk of entrepreneurs are Armenians. Teachers, engineers, doctors are all Armenians. They stood at the origins of such industries of the region as fisheries, winemaking, sericulture, tobacco growing, cotton growing.
The first bank and the first printing house in Baku were opened by the Armenians. In the cultural life of the city’s society, they also played a dominant role.
But along with the prosperity of the people in the city, a terrible fate befell him several times. In February 1905, September 15, 1918 in Baku there were terrible pogroms of Armenians, as a result of which hundreds of people died.
After the revolution, the life of Armenians in Baku was gradually getting better. Armenian schools, a theater were opened. Until the mid-20th century, many signboards in stores were in Armenian and Russian.
National conflict in Baku in the early 1990s
Relations between Armenians and Azerbaijanis were quite loyal. But the friendship of peoples in the Soviet ideological sense was not. The terrible pogrom in Sumgait caused a huge shock among the Baku Armenians. Many of them, fearing for their fate and the fate of their loved ones, left the city. But most of the Armenians remained in Baku, hoping that the city authorities would not allow bloody events.
On January 13, 1990, the worst pogrom of Baku Armenians in their entire history of residence in the city began. The massacre was accompanied by robberies, violence, murder and arson. This hell lasted a whole week.
On January 20, all the victims of the bloody events were buried in Nagorny Park, in the old Armenian cemetery, where the victims of the pogroms of 1905 and 1918 were also buried.
Those who managed to escape forever left this city, their number is about 200 thousand people. The community of Baku Armenians that has developed over the centuries has ceased to exist. They left this city, but left their houses in it, the fruits of their labor, the graves of loved ones and a particle of their hearts.
Songs of Baku Armenians
In the cultural space, Baku Armenian songs are very popular. They are filled with longing for their homeland, memories of a happy childhood, sadness due to the inability to return to their homeland and to their homes. Songs of Baku Armenians are listened to by both Russians and Armenians, whom life has scattered throughout the cities and countries of the whole world. The most famous performer of the Caucasian chanson is Bakuer Melik-Pashayan Marat, not a single wedding of Baku Armenians can do without songs.
Baku Armenian Diaspora in USA
A fairly powerful diaspora of Baku Armenians has formed in the USA, their number is about 50 thousand. They live in cities: Nashville, New York, Seattle, San Francisco. Armenian churches were built here , schools were opened in which the Armenian language is taught.
monuments commemorating the victims of the pogroms have been erected in St. Wartan's Cathedral and in San Francisco.
Over the years, many children expelled from Azerbaijan have grown up, received education and work for the good of American society.
Baku Armenians Diaspora in Moscow
The Baku-Armenian diaspora in Moscow was born after the first pogrom of Armenians in Baku in 1905 and increased significantly in 1990. The Baku Armenians in Moscow assimilated and it is impossible to establish their exact numbers, as many hide that they are refugees from Baku.
The number of the Armenian diaspora in Russia is about 10 million people.
Every year on April 24, Moscow Armenians celebrate at the Vagankovsky cemetery the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide (1905, 1915, 1918, 1990).
The Armenian Apostolic Church is quite active in Moscow. The largest temple is the Transfiguration Cathedral, whose construction was completed in 2013. On the territory of the temple there is a bell tower, the residence of the Head of the Armenian Apostolic Church and a museum.
Armenian culture is closely intertwined with the capital, Armenians, including Baku, preserve their culture, history, language, life and traditions. In addition to the cemetery and the temple, an Armenian school was opened in Moscow, a public organization, and a theater are operating.
Many Baku Armenians, despite being torn away from their hometown and scattered all over the globe, are interested in their history and culture, empathize with the failures and successes of their people, and are proud that they are Baku Armenians.