Azerbaijan is a country in the southeast of the Caucasus. Many important and interesting events took place on these lands. And a lot about them can tell us the story. Azerbaijan will appear in historical retrospect, revealing the secrets of its past.
Location of Azerbaijan
The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the east of Transcaucasia. From the north, the border of Azerbaijan is in contact with the Russian Federation. In the south, the country borders with Iran, in the west - with Armenia, in the north-west - with Georgia. From the east, the country is washed by the waves of the Caspian Sea.
The territory of Azerbaijan is almost equally represented by mountainous regions and lowlands. This fact played an important role in the historical development of the country.
Primitive times
First of all, we learn about the most ancient times in which history allows us to look. Azerbaijan was populated at the dawn of human development. So, the most ancient monument of a Neanderthal stay in the country dates back more than 1.5 million years ago.
The most significant sites of ancient man were found in Azykh and Taglars caves.
Ancient Azerbaijan
The first state that was located on the territory of Azerbaijan was Manna. Its center was within the borders of modern Iranian Azerbaijan.
The name "Azerbaijan" comes from the name of Atropat - the governor, who began to rule in Manna after its conquest by Persia. In honor of him, the whole country began to be called Midia Atropatena, which later transformed into the name "Azerbaijan".
One of the first peoples that inhabited Azerbaijan was the Albanians. This ethnic group belonged to the Nakh-Dagestan language family and was akin to modern Lezgins. In the 1st millennium BC , the Albanians had their own state. Unlike Manna, it was located in the north of the country. Caucasian Albania was constantly subjected to the predatory aspirations of Ancient Rome, Byzantium, the Parthian kingdom and Iran. For some time, the Armenian king Tigran II was able to gain a foothold in significant territories of the country.
In the 4th century n e. Christianity came from Armenia to the territory of Albania, which until then was dominated by local religions and Zoroastrianism.
Arab conquest
In the VII century. n e. an event happened that played a decisive role in the history of the region. It is about the Arab conquest. At first, the Arabs conquered the kingdom of Iran, from which Albania was in vassal dependence, and then launched an attack on Azerbaijan itself. After the Arabs captured the country, its history made a new round. Azerbaijan has now become forever inextricably linked with Islam. The Arabs, having included the country in the Caliphate, began to pursue a systematic policy of Islamization of the region and quickly achieved their goals. The southern cities of Azerbaijan were first subjected to Islamization, and then a new religion penetrated the countryside and the north of the country.
But not everything was so easy for the Arab administration in the southeast of the Caucasus. In 816, an uprising began in Azerbaijan against the Arabs and Islam. He led this popular movement Babek, who adhered to the ancient Zoroastrian religion. The main pillar of the uprising was the artisans and peasants. For more than twenty years, the people led by Babek fought with the Arab authorities. The rebels even managed to expel the Arab garrisons from the territory of Azerbaijan. To suppress the uprising, the Caliphate had to consolidate all his forces.
State of the Shirvanshahs
Despite the fact that the uprising was crushed, the Caliphate weakened every year. He no longer had the strength, as before, to control the various parts of a vast empire.
The governors of the northern part of Azerbaijan (Shirvan), beginning in 861, began to be called the Shirvanshahs and transferred their power by inheritance. Nominally they obeyed the caliph, but in fact were completely independent rulers. Over time, even the nominal relationship disappeared.
The capital of the Shirvanshahs was initially Shamakhi, and then Baku. The state lasted until 1538, when it was included in the Persian state of the Safavids.
At the same time, in the south of the country there were alternately successive states of the Sajjids, Salarids, Sheddadids, Ravvadids, which also either did not recognize the power of the Caliphate at all, or did it only formally.
Turkization of Azerbaijan
No less important for history than the Islamization of the region caused by the Arab conquest was its Turkization due to the invasion of various Turkic nomadic tribes. But, unlike Islamization, this process lasted for several centuries. The importance of this event is emphasized by a number of factors that characterize modern Azerbaijan: the language and culture of the country's modern population is of Turkic origin.
The first wave of the Turkic invasion was the invasion of the Oguz Seljuk tribes from Central Asia, which occurred in the XI century. It was accompanied by huge destruction and destruction of the local population. Many residents of Azerbaijan escaped to the mountains. Therefore, it was the mountainous regions of the country that were least affected by Turkization. Here Christianity became the dominant religion, and the inhabitants of Azerbaijan mingled with the Armenians living in the mountainous regions. At the same time, the population remaining in their places, mixing with the Turkic conquerors, adopted their language and culture, but at the same time preserved the cultural heritage of their ancestors. The ethnos formed from this confusion became known in the future as Azerbaijanis.
After the collapse of the united Seljuk state in southern Azerbaijan, the Ildezhezid dynasty ruled of Turkic origin ruled, and then Khorezmshahs seized these lands for a short while.
In the first half of the 13th century, the Caucasus was subjected to a Mongol invasion. Azerbaijan was included in the state of the Mongolian dynasty of the Hulaguids with a center on the territory of modern Iran.
After the fall of the Hulaguids dynasty in 1355, Azerbaijan for a short time became part of the state of Tamerlane, and then became part of the state formations of the Oguz tribes Kara-Koyunlu and Ak-Koyunlu. It was during this period that the final formation of the Azerbaijani nationality took place.
Azerbaijan as part of Iran
After the fall of the state of Ak-Koyunlu, in 1501, a powerful Safavid state was formed in Iran and southern Azerbaijan, with its center in Tabriz. Later, the capital was moved to the Iranian cities of Qazvin and Isfahan.
The Safavid state possessed all the attributes of a real empire. The Safavids waged a particularly stubborn struggle in the West with the Ottoman Empire, which was gaining power, including in the territory of the Caucasus.
In 1538, the Safavids managed to conquer the state of the Shirvanshahs. Thus, under their authority was the entire territory of modern Azerbaijan. Iran retained control of the country during the following dynasties - Hotaki, Afsharids and Zends. In 1795, the Qajar dynasty of Turkic origin reigned in Iran.
At that time, Azerbaijan was already divided into many small khanates, which were subordinate to the central Iranian government.
The conquest of Azerbaijan by the Russian Empire
The first attempts to establish Russian control over the territories of Azerbaijan were made under Peter I. But at that time, the advance of the Russian Empire in the Transcaucasus did not have much success.
The situation radically changed in the first half of the 19th century. During the two Russian-Persian wars, which lasted from 1804 to 1828, almost the entire territory of modern Azerbaijan was annexed to the Russian Empire.
This was one of the turning points that history is full of. Since then, Azerbaijan has long been connected with Russia. The time of being part of the Russian Empire refers to the beginning of oil production in Azerbaijan and the development of industry.
Azerbaijan as part of the USSR
After the October Revolution, centrifugal tendencies were outlined in various regions of the former Russian Empire. In May 1918, the independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was formed. But the young state could not survive in the fight against the Bolsheviks, including because of internal contradictions. In 1920, it was eliminated.
The Bolsheviks created the Azerbaijan SSR. Initially, it was part of the Transcaucasian Federation, but since 1936 it became a fully equal subject of the USSR. The capital of this state entity was the city of Baku. During this period, other cities of Azerbaijan developed intensively.
But in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. In connection with this event, the Azerbaijan SSR ceased to exist.
Modern Azerbaijan
The independent state became known as the Republic of Azerbaijan. The first president of Azerbaijan is Ayaz Mutalibov, formerly the first secretary of the republican committee of the Communist Party. After him, Abulfaz Elchibey and Heydar Aliyev alternately occupied the post of head of state. At present, the president of Azerbaijan is the son of the latter, Ilham Aliyev. He took office in 2003.
The most acute problem in modern Azerbaijan is the Karabakh conflict, which began at the end of the existence of the USSR. During the bloody confrontation between the government forces of Azerbaijan and the residents of Karabakh, with the support of Armenia, the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh was formed. Azerbaijan considers this territory to be its own, therefore the conflict is constantly renewing.
At the same time, one cannot fail to note the successes of Azerbaijan in building an independent state. If these successes are developed in the future, then the country's prosperity will become the logical result of the joint efforts of the government and the people.