Introduction.

Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani Turks, Iranian Turks - this is all the name of the same modern Turkic people of Azerbaijan and Iran
On the territory of the now independent states that were previously part of the Soviet Union, 10-13 million Azerbaijanis live, who, in addition to Azerbaijan, also live in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In 1988-1993, as a result of the aggression of the Armenian authorities, about one million Azerbaijanis from the South Transcaucasus were expelled from their native lands.
According to some researchers, Azerbaijanis make up one third of the total population of modern Iran and occupy second place in the country after the Persians in terms of this indicator. Unfortunately, science today does not have accurate data on the number of Azerbaijanis living in northern Iran. Their approximate number is estimated at 30 to 35 million.
The Azerbaijani language is also spoken by the Afshars and Qizilbashs living in some regions of Afghanistan. The language of some Turkic groups of southern Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and the Balkans is very close to the modern Azerbaijani language.
According to tentative estimates of researchers, today 40-50 million people speak the Azerbaijani language in the world.
Azerbaijanis, together with the Anatolian Turks who are genetically closest to them, make up over 60% of the total number of all modern Turkic peoples.
It should be noted that over the past two centuries, hundreds of books and articles have been written on the ethnogenesis of Azerbaijanis, and many different thoughts, assumptions and guesses have been expressed. At the same time, despite the diversity of opinions, they all basically boil down to two main hypotheses.
Proponents of the first hypothesis believe that Azerbaijanis are the descendants of ancient ethnic groups that in ancient times inhabited the western coast of the Caspian Sea and adjacent territories (here most often called Iranian-speaking Medes and Atropatenes, as well as Caucasian-speaking Albanians), who in the Middle Ages were “Turkified” by newcomer Turkic tribes. During the Soviet years, this hypothesis of the origin of Azerbaijanis became a tradition in historical and ethnographic literature. This hypothesis was especially zealously defended by Igrar Aliyev, Ziya Buniyatov, Farida Mamedova, A.P. Novoseltsev, S.A. Tokarev, V.P. Alekseev and others, although in almost all cases these authors referred readers to the works of Herodotus and Strabo for argumentation. Having penetrated into a number of general publications (the three-volume “History of Azerbaijan”), the Median-Atropateno-Albanian concept of the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijanis became one of the widespread provisions of Soviet historical science. Archaeological, linguistic, ethnographic sources were practically absent in the works of the above authors. At best, toponyms and ethnonyms indicated in the works of ancient authors were sometimes considered as evidence. This hypothesis was defended most aggressively in Azerbaijan by Igrar Aliyev. Although from time to time he expressed diametrically opposed views and ideas.
For example, in 1956, in the book “Midia - the most ancient state on the territory of Azerbaijan,” he writes: “To consider the Median language as definitely Iranian is at least not serious.” (1956, p. 84)
In “History of Azerbaijan” (1995) he already states: “The Median linguistic material currently at our disposal is sufficient to recognize the Iranian language in it.” (1995, 119))
Igrar Aliev (1989): “Most of our sources really consider Atropatena to be part of Media, and in particular such an informed author as Strabo.” (1989, p. 25)
Igrar Aliev (1990): “You can’t always trust Strabo: “His geography contains a lot of contradictory things... The geographer made various kinds of unfair and gullible generalizations.” (1990, p. 26)
Igrar Aliev (1956): “You should not particularly trust the Greeks, who reported that the Mede and the Persian understood each other in conversation.” (1956, p.83)
Igrar Aliyev (1995): “Already the reports of ancient authors definitely indicate that in ancient times the Persians and Medes were called Aryans.” (1995, p. 119)
Igrar Aliyev (1956): “The recognition of Iranians among the Medes is, undoubtedly, the fruit of the tendentious one-sidedness and scientific schematism of the Indo-European migration theory.” (1956, p.76)
Igrar Aliyev (1995): “Despite the lack of related texts in the Median language, we, now relying on significant onomastic material and other data, we can rightfully speak about the Median language and attribute this language to the northwestern group of the Iranian family.” (1995, p.119)
One can cite a dozen more similar contradictory statements by Igrar Aliyev, a man who has been heading the historical sciences of Azerbaijan for about 40 years. (Gumbatov, 1998, pp.6-10)
Supporters of the second hypothesis prove that the ancestors of the Azerbaijanis are the ancient Turks, who have lived in this territory since time immemorial, and all the newcomer Turks naturally mixed with the local Turks, who have lived since ancient times in the territory of the southwestern Caspian region and the South Caucasus. The existence of different or even mutually exclusive hypotheses on a controversial issue in itself, of course, is quite acceptable, but, according to famous scientists G. M. Bongard-Levin and E. A. Grantovsky, as a rule, some of these hypotheses, if not the majority, is not accompanied by historical and linguistic evidence. (1)
However, supporters of the second hypothesis, as well as supporters of the first hypothesis, to prove the autochthony of Azerbaijanis, mainly rely on toponyms and ethnonyms mentioned in the works of ancient and medieval authors.
For example, an ardent supporter of the second hypothesis G. Geybullaev writes: “In ancient, Middle Persian, early medieval Armenian, Georgian and Arab sources, numerous place names are mentioned in connection with historical events on the territory of Albania. Our research has shown that the vast majority of them are ancient Turkic. This serves as a clear argument in favor of our concept of the Turkic-speaking nature of the Albanian ethnos of Albania in the early Middle Ages... The most ancient Turkic place names include some place names in Albania, mentioned in the work of the Greek geographer Ptolemy (2nd century) - 29 settlements and 5 rivers. Some of them are Turkic: Alam, Gangara, Deglana, Iobula, Kaysi, etc. It should be noted that these toponyms have come to us in a distorted form, and some are written in ancient Greek, some of the sounds of which do not coincide with the Turkic languages.
The toponym Alam can be identified with the medieval toponym Ulam - the name of the place where the Iori flows into the river. Alazan in the former Samukh in northeastern Albania, which is currently called Dar-Doggaz (from Azerbaijani dar "gorge" and doggaz "passage"). The word ulam in the meaning of “passage” (cf. the modern meaning of the word doggaz “passage”) is still preserved in Azerbaijani dialects and undoubtedly goes back to the Turkic olom, olam, olum, “ford”, “crossing”. The name of Mount Eskilyum (Zangelan district) is also associated with this word - from the Turkic eski “old”, “ancient” and ulum (from olom) “passage”.
Ptolemy indicates the Gangar point at the mouth of the Kura River, which is probably a phonetic form of the toponym Sangar. In ancient times, there were two points in Azerbaijan called Sangar, one at the confluence of the Kura and Araks rivers and the second at the confluence of the Iori and Alazani rivers; It is difficult to say which of the above toponyms refers to ancient Gangar. As for the linguistic explanation of the origin of the toponym Sangar, it goes back to the ancient Turkic sangar “cape”, “corner”. The toponym Iobula is probably the oldest but distorted name of Belokany in northwestern Azerbaijan, in which it is not difficult to distinguish the components Iobula and “kan”. In a 7th century source, this toponym is noted in the form Balakan and Ibalakan, which can be considered a link between Iobula Ptolemy and modern Belokan. This toponym was formed from the ancient Turkic bel “hill” from the connecting phoneme a and kan “forest” or the suffix gan. The toponym Deglan can be associated with the later Su-Dagylan in the Mingachevir region - from Azerbaijani. su “water” and dagylan “collapsed”. The hydronym Kaishi may be a phonetic derivative of Khoisu "blue water"; Note that the modern name Geokchay means “blue river”. (Geybullaev G.A. On the ethnogenesis of Azerbaijanis, vol. 1 - Baku: 1991. - pp. 239-240).
Such “evidence” of the autochthony of the ancient Turks is actually anti-evidence. Unfortunately, 90% of the works of Azerbaijani historians are based on such an etymological analysis of toponyms and ethnonyms.
However, most modern scientists believe that etymological analysis of toponyms cannot help in solving ethnogenetic problems, since toponymy changes with population changes
So, for example, according to L. Klein: “People leave toponymy not where they lived most or originally. What remains from the people is toponymy where its predecessors are completely and quickly swept away, without having time to transfer their toponymy to the newcomers, where many new tracts arise that require a name, and where this newcomer people still live or the continuity is not disrupted later by a radical and rapid change of population." .
Currently, it is generally accepted that the problem of the origin of individual peoples (ethnic groups) should be solved on the basis of an integrated approach, that is, by the joint efforts of historians, linguists, archaeologists and representatives of other related disciplines.
Before moving on to a comprehensive consideration of the problem that interests us, I would like to dwell on some facts that are directly related to our topic.
First of all, this concerns the so-called “Median heritage” in the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijanis.
As you know, one of the authors of the first hypothesis we are considering is the main Soviet expert on ancient languages, I.M. Dyakonov.
Behind last half century in all works on the origin of Azerbaijanis there are references to I.M. Dyakonov’s book “History of the Media”. In particular, for most researchers, the key point in this book was I.M. Dyakonov’s instruction that “there is no doubt that in the complex, multilateral and long process of the formation of the Azerbaijani nation, the Median ethnic element played a very important, and in certain historical periods, a leading role ".(3)
And suddenly, in 1995, I.M. Dyakonov expressed a completely different view on the ethnogenesis of Azerbaijanis.
In “The Book of Memories” (1995) I.M. Dyakonov writes: “I, on the advice of my brother Misha’s student, Leni Bretanitsky, contracted to write the “History of Media” for Azerbaijan. Everyone then was looking for more knowledgeable and ancient ancestors, and the Azerbaijanis hoped that the Medes were their ancient ancestors. The staff of the Institute of History of Azerbaijan was a good panopticon. Everyone had everything in order with their social background and party affiliation (or so it was thought); some could communicate in Persian, but mostly they were busy eating each other. Most of the institute’s employees had a rather indirect relationship to science... I could not prove to the Azerbaijanis that the Medes were their ancestors, because this is still not the case. But he wrote “The History of Media” - a large, thick, detailed volume.” (4)
It can be assumed that this problem tormented the famous scientist all his life.
It should be noted that the problem of the origin of the Medes is still considered unresolved. Apparently, this is why in 2001 European orientalists decided to get together and finally solve this problem through joint efforts.
Here is what famous Russian orientalists I.N. Medvedskaya write about this. and Dandamaev M.A: “the contradictory evolution of our knowledge about Media was thoroughly reflected at the conference entitled “Continuation of the Empire (?): Assyria, Media and Persia,” held as part of a cooperation program between the universities of Padua, Innsbruck and Munich in 2001. whose reports are published in the volume under review. It is dominated by articles whose authors believe that the Median kingdom essentially did not exist... that Herodotus’s description of the Medes as a huge ethnic group with its capital in Ecbatana is not confirmed by either written or archaeological sources (however, we will add from ourselves, and is not refuted by them).” (5)
It should be noted that in post-Soviet times, most authors of ethnogenetic research, when writing their next book, cannot ignore a very unpleasant factor called “Shnirelman”.
The fact is that this gentleman considers it his duty, in a mentoring tone, to “criticize” all the authors of books on ethnogenesis published in the post-Soviet space (“Myths of the Diaspora”, “Khazar Myth”, “Memory Wars. Myths, Identity and Politics in Transcaucasia”, “Patriotic education”: ethnic conflicts and school textbooks”, etc.).
For example, V. Shnirelman in the article “Myths of the Diaspora” writes that many Turkic-speaking scientists (linguists, historians, archaeologists): “over the past 20–30 years, with increasing fervor, they have tried, contrary to well-established facts, to prove the antiquity of the Turkic languages V steppe zone of Eastern Europe, in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia and even in a number of regions of Iran.” (6)
About the ancestors of modern Turkic peoples, V. Shnirelman writes the following: “having entered the historical stage as tireless colonialists, the Turks over the past centuries, by the will of fate, found themselves in a situation of diaspora. This determined the features of the development of their ethnogenetic mythology over the last century and, especially, in last decades" (6)
If in Soviet era“specially authorized critics” like V. Shnirelman received another assignment from various special services to destroy authors and their works that the authorities do not like, but now these “free literary killers” apparently work for those who pay the most.
In particular, Mr. V. Shnirelman wrote the article “Myths of the Diaspora” with funds from the American John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
With whose funds did V. Shnirelman write the anti-Azerbaijani book “Memory Wars. Myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia” could not be found out, however, the fact that his works are often published in the newspaper of Russian Armenians “Yerkramas” speaks volumes.
Not long ago (February 7, 2013) this newspaper published new article V. Shnirelman “Answer to my Azerbaijani critics.” This article is no different in tone and content from previous writings by this author (7)
Meanwhile, the publishing house of the ICC “Akademkniga”, which published the book “Memory Wars. Myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia,” claims that it “provides fundamental research into the problems of ethnicity in Transcaucasia. It shows how politicized versions of the past become an important aspect of modern nationalist ideologies.”
I would not have devoted so much space to Mr. Shnirelman if he had written in “Answer to my Azerbaijani critics” in Once again did not touch upon the problem of the origin of Azerbaijanis. According to Shnirelman, he would really like to know “why during the 20th century Azerbaijani scientists changed the image of their ancestors five times. This issue is discussed in detail in the book (“Memory Wars. Myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia” - G.G.), but the philosopher (Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Zumrud Kulizade, author of a critical letter to V. Shnirelman-G.G.) believes this problem is unworthy of our attention; she just doesn’t notice it.” (8)
This is how V. Shrinelman describes the activities of Azerbaijani historians in the 20th century: “in accordance with the Soviet doctrine, which showed particular intolerance towards “alien peoples,” the Azerbaijanis urgently needed the status of an indigenous people, and this required proof of autochthony of origin.
In the second half of the 1930s. Azerbaijani historical science received an assignment from the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Azerbaijan SSR M.D. Bagirov to write a history of Azerbaijan that would depict Azerbaijani people autochthonous population and would tear it away from its Turkic roots.
By the spring of 1939, the initial version of the history of Azerbaijan was already ready and in May was discussed at a scientific session of the Department of History and Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It conveyed the idea that Azerbaijan had been inhabited continuously since the Stone Age, that in its development the local tribes were in no way behind their neighbors, that they valiantly fought against uninvited invaders and, even despite temporary setbacks, always retained their sovereignty . It is curious that this textbook has not yet given the “proper” importance to Media in the development of Azerbaijani statehood, the Albanian topic was almost completely ignored, and the local population, no matter what eras were discussed, was called exclusively “Azerbaijanis.”
Thus, the authors identified the inhabitants by their habitat and therefore did not feel the need for a special discussion of the problem of the formation of the Azerbaijani people. This work was actually the first systematic presentation of the history of Azerbaijan prepared by Soviet Azerbaijani scientists. The Azerbaijanis included the oldest population of the region, which supposedly had changed little over thousands of years.
Who were the most ancient ancestors of Azerbaijanis?
The authors identified them with “the Medes, Caspians, Albanians and other tribes who lived on the territory of Azerbaijan about 3,000 years ago.”
On November 5, 1940, a meeting of the Presidium of the Azerbaijan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences was held, where “ ancient history Azerbaijan" was directly identified with the history of Media.
The next attempt to write the history of Azerbaijan was made in 1945-1946, when, as we will see, Azerbaijan lived with dreams of a close reunification with its relatives located in Iran. Practically the same team of authors, supplemented by specialists from the Institute of Party History, who were responsible for sections on recent history, participated in the preparation of the new text of “History of Azerbaijan”. The new text was based on the previous concept, according to which the Azerbaijani people, firstly, were formed from the ancient population of Eastern Transcaucasia and Northwestern Iran, and secondly, although they experienced some influence from later newcomers (Scythians, etc.) ), it was insignificant. What was new in this text was the desire to further deepen the history of the Azerbaijanis - this time the creators of Bronze Age cultures on the territory of Azerbaijan were declared their ancestors.
The task was formulated even more clearly by the XVII and XVIII Congresses Communist Party Azerbaijan, held in 1949 and 1951, respectively. They called on Azerbaijani historians to “develop such important issues history of the Azerbaijani people, like the history of Media, the origin of the Azerbaijani people.”
And the following year, speaking at the XVIII Congress of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Baghirov portrayed the Turkic nomads as robbers and murderers, who little corresponded to the image of the ancestors of the Azerbaijani people.
This idea was clearly heard during the campaign that took place in Azerbaijan in 1951, directed against the epic “Dede Korkut”. Its participants constantly emphasized that medieval Azerbaijanis were settled inhabitants, bearers of high culture, and had nothing in common with wild nomads.
In other words, the origin of Azerbaijanis from the sedentary population of ancient Media was sanctioned by the Azerbaijani authorities; and scientists could only begin to substantiate this idea. The mission of preparing a new concept of the history of Azerbaijan was entrusted to the Institute of History of the Azerbaijan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Now the main ancestors of the Azerbaijanis were again associated with the Medes, to which were added the Albanians, who supposedly preserved the traditions of ancient Media after its conquest by the Persians. Not a word was said about the language and writing of the Albanians, nor about the role of the Turkic and Iranian languages ​​in the Middle Ages. And the entire population that had ever lived on the territory of Azerbaijan was indiscriminately classified as Azerbaijanis and opposed to the Iranians.
Meanwhile, there were no scientific grounds to confuse the early history of Albania and Southern Azerbaijan (Atropatena). In ancient times and in the early Middle Ages, people lived there completely different groups populations that are not related to each other culturally, socially, or linguistically.
In 1954, a conference was held at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, condemning the distortions of history observed during the reign of Bagirov
Historians were given the task of writing the “History of Azerbaijan” anew. This three-volume work appeared in Baku in 1958-1962. Its first volume was devoted to all the early stages of history up to the annexation of Azerbaijan to Russia, and leading specialists from the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR participated in its writing. There were no archaeological specialists among them, although the volume began with the Paleolithic era. From the very first pages, the authors emphasized that Azerbaijan was one of the first centers of human civilization, that statehood arose there in ancient times, that the Azerbaijani people created a high, unique culture and fought for centuries against foreign conquerors for independence and freedom. Northern and Southern Azerbaijan were viewed as a single whole, and the annexation of the former to Russia was interpreted as a progressive historical act.
How did the authors imagine the formation of the Azerbaijani language?
They recognized the great role of the Seljuk conquest in the 11th century, which caused a significant influx of Turkic-speaking nomads. At the same time, they saw in the Seljuks a foreign force that doomed the local population to new
hardships and deprivations. Therefore, the authors emphasized the struggle of local peoples for independence and welcomed the collapse of the Seljuk state, which made possible the restoration of Azerbaijani statehood. At the same time, they were aware that the dominance of the Seljuks marked the beginning of the widespread dissemination of the Turkic language, which gradually leveled out the former linguistic differences between the population of Southern and Northern Azerbaijan. The population remained the same, but changed the language, the authors emphasized. Thus, the Azerbaijanis acquired the status of an unconditionally indigenous population, although they had foreign-language ancestors. Consequently, the primordial connection with the lands of Caucasian Albania and Atropatena turned out to be a much more significant factor than language, although the authors recognized that the establishment of a linguistic community led to the formation of the Azerbaijani nation.
The publication reviewed served as the basis for a new school textbook, published in 1960. All its chapters, devoted to history until the end of the 19th century, were written by Academician A.S. Sumbatzade. It showed an even more clear tendency to connect early Azerbaijani statehood with the kingdom of Mann and Media Atropatena. They talked about the early Turkic waves of pre-Seljuk times, although it was recognized that the Turkic language finally won in the 11th-12th centuries. The role of the Turkic language in consolidating the country's population was also recognized, but anthropological, cultural and historical continuity, rooted in the deepest local antiquity, was emphasized. This seemed sufficient to the author, and the issue of forming the Azerbaijani people was not specifically considered.
Until the early 1990s. this work retained its significance as the main course in the history of Azerbaijan, and its main provisions were perceived as instructions and a call to action.”(10)
As we see, V. Shnirelman believes that the “fifth” concept (in our book it is considered as the first hypothesis), officially approved and adopted by the authorities back in the 60s of the 20th century, is still dominant outside Azerbaijan.
Many books and articles have been written about the struggle of supporters of both hypotheses of the ethnogenesis of Azerbaijanis in the last 25 years. The first generation of Azerbaijani historians, who began in the 50-70s. deal with the problems of the ancient and medieval history of Azerbaijan (Ziya Buniyatov, Igrar Aliyev, Farida Mamedova, etc.), created a certain concept of the history of the country, according to which the Turkization of Azerbaijan took place in the 11th century and it was from this time that it is necessary to talk about the initial stage of the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people . This concept was reflected not only in the book published in the mid-50s. the three-volume “History of Azerbaijan”, but also Soviet school textbooks. At the same time, they were opposed by another group of historians (Mahmud Ismailov, Suleiman Aliyarov, Yusif Yusifov, etc.), who advocated a deeper study of the role of the Turks in the history of Azerbaijan, in every possible way ancientized the fact of the presence of the Turks in Azerbaijan, believing that the Turks are primordially ancient people in the region. The problem was that the first group (the so-called “classics”) had leading positions in the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences and mainly consisted of the so-called. “Russian-speaking” Azerbaijanis educated in Moscow and Leningrad. The second group had a weak position in the academic Institute of History. At the same time, representatives of the second group had strong positions in the Azerbaijan State University and the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical Institute, i.e. were very popular among teachers and students. The historical science of Azerbaijan has become an arena of struggle both within the country and outside. In the first case, the number of publications by representatives of the second group noticeably increased, who began to publish articles about the ancient history of Azerbaijan, according to which, on the one hand, the history of the appearance of the first Turks went back to ancient times. On the other hand, the old concept of the Turkization of the country in the 11th century was declared incorrect and harmful, and its representatives were, at best, declared retrogrades. The struggle between two directions in the historical science of Azerbaijan was especially clearly manifested in the issue of publishing the academic 8-volume “History of Azerbaijan”. Work on it began in the mid-70s and by the early 80s. six volumes (from the third to the eighth) were already ready for publication. However, the problem was that the first and second volumes were not accepted in any way, because there the main struggle between two directions in Azerbaijani historiography unfolded over the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people.
The complexity and severity of the conflict is evidenced by the fact that both groups of historians of Azerbaijan decided to take an unusual step: they simultaneously published a one-volume “History of Azerbaijan”. And here the main ones were the pages devoted to the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people, because otherwise there were no differences. As a result, one book claims that the Turks first appeared on the territory of Azerbaijan only in the 4th century, while in another the Turks are declared an autochthonous population living here at least since the 3rd millennium BC! One book claims that the name of the country "Azerbaijan" has ancient Iranian roots and comes from the name of the country "Atropatena". In another, this same thing is explained as a derivative of the name of the ancient Turkic tribe “as”! Surprisingly, both books talk about the same tribes and peoples (Sakas, Massagetae, Cimmerians, Kutians, Turukkis, Albanians, etc.), but in one case they are declared part of the ancient Iranian or local Caucasian group of languages, in friend, these same tribes are declared part of the ancient Turkic world! Result: in the first book they avoided detailed coverage of the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people, limiting themselves to a brief statement that only in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 12th centuries, there was a process of formation of the Azerbaijani people on the basis of various Turkic tribes constantly arriving in these centuries, mixing at the same time with local Iranian-speaking and other tribes and peoples. In the second book, on the contrary, this issue was highlighted in a special chapter, where the traditional concept of education of the Azerbaijani people was criticized and it was indicated that the Turks had lived on the territory of Azerbaijan since ancient times.
As the reader can see, the problem of the origin of Azerbaijanis is still very far from being resolved. Unfortunately, none of the hypotheses of the origin of Azerbaijanis has been studied in full to this day, that is, in accordance with the requirements that modern historical science places on such ethnogenetic research.
Unfortunately, there are no reliable facts to support the above hypotheses. There is still no special archaeological research devoted to the origin of the Azerbaijanis. We do not know, for example, how the material culture of the Mannev differed from the culture of the Medes, Lullubeys, and Hurrians. Or, for example, how did the population of Atropatene differ from each other anthropologically from the population of Albania? Or how did the burials of the Hurrians differ from the burials of the Caspians and Gutians? What linguistic features of the language of the Hurrians, Kutians, Caspians, and Mannaeans have been preserved in the Azerbaijani language? Without finding an answer to these and many similar questions in archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, genetics and other related sciences, we will not be able to solve the problem of the origin of Azerbaijanis.
The famous Russian scientist L. Klein writes: “Theoretically”, “in principle”, it is possible, of course, to construct as many hypotheses as you like, deployed in any direction. But this is if there are no facts. Facts are constraining. They limit the range of possible searches.”(12)
I hope that the analysis of archaeological, linguistic, anthropological, written and other materials discussed in this book and their assessment will give me the opportunity to determine the true ancestors of the Azerbaijanis.

Literature:

1. G. M. Bongard-Levin. E. A. Grantovsky. From Scythia to India. Ancient arias: Myths and history M. 1983. p.101-

2. G. M. Bongard-Levin. E. A. Grantovsky. From Scythia to India. Ancient arias: Myths and history M. 1983. p.101-
http://www.biblio.nhat-nam.ru/Sk-Ind.pdf

3. I.M.Dyakonov. History of Media. From ancient times to the end of the 4th century BC. M.L. 1956, p. 6

4. (I.M. Dyakonov Book of Memories. 1995.

5. Medvedskaya I.N., Dandamaev M.A. History of Media in modern Western literature
“Bulletin of Ancient History”, No. 1, 2006. pp. 202-209.
http://liberea.gerodot.ru/a_hist/midia.htm

6. V. Shnirelman, “Myths of the Diaspora.”

7. V.A.Shnirelman. Answer to my Azerbaijani critics. “Yerkramas”,

8. Shnirelman V.A. Memory wars: myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia. - M.: ICC “Akademkniga”, 2003.p.3

9. V.A.Shnirelman. Answer to my Azerbaijani critics. “Yerkramas”,

10. Shnirelman V.A. Memory wars: myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia. - M.: ICC “Akademkniga”, 2003.p.

11. Klein L.S. It's hard to be Klein: Autobiography in monologues and dialogues. - St. Petersburg:
2010. p.245

The historical lands of Azerbaijan, surrounded from the north by the Greater Caucasus Mountains, from the west by the Alagyoz mountain ranges, including the basin of Lake Goyja and East Anadolu, from the east by the Caspian Sea, and from the south by the expanses of Sultaniat-Zanjan-Hamadan, are one of the centers of the ancient culture that stood at the origins of modern civilization.

On this territory - the historical lands of Azerbaijan - the Azerbaijani people created a rich and unique culture and traditions of statehood.

The historical pronunciation of the name "Azerbaijan" has varied. Since ancient times, from the origins of civilization, this name has sounded like Andirpatian, Atropatena, Adirbijan, Azirbijan and, finally, Azerbaijan.

The spelling in modern form is "Azerbaijan", based on ancient historical, anthropological, ethnographic and written sources.

Items discovered during archaeological excavations made it possible to study the history of life and culture of Azerbaijan. Based on ethnographic materials collected during the expeditions, traditions, everyday and moral culture, ancient forms of government, family relationships, etc. were studied.

As a result of archaeological research carried out on the territory of Azerbaijan, valuable samples related to the everyday life and cultural objects of the first inhabitants who inhabited it were discovered, which served as the key to including the territory of our Republic in the list of territories where the formation of man took place.

The most ancient archaeological and paleontological materials have been found on the territory of Azerbaijan, confirming the beginning of life here by primitive people 1.7-1.8 million years ago.

The territory of Azerbaijan is extremely rich in archaeological monuments, confirming that this country is one of the most ancient places of human settlement in the world.

Archaeological finds discovered in the caves of Azykh, Taglar, Damdzhily, Dashsalakhly, Gazma (Nakhichevan) and other ancient monuments, including the jaw of the Azykh man (Azykhanthropus) - an ancient man of the Acheulian period who lived here 300-400 thousand years ago, indicate that Azerbaijan to the territories where the formation of primitive people took place.

Thanks to this ancient find The territory of Azerbaijan is included in the map “The Most Ancient Inhabitants of Europe”. The Azerbaijani people, at the same time, are one of the peoples with the traditions of ancient statehood. The history of Azerbaijan's statehood dates back approximately 5 thousand years.

The first state formations or ethnopolitical associations on the territory of Azerbaijan were created starting from the end of the 4th, beginning of the 3rd millennium BC in the Urmia basin. The ancient Azerbaijani states that appeared here played an important role in the military-political history of the entire region. It was during this period in the history of Azerbaijan that there was a close relationship between the ancient states of Sumer, Akkard and Ashur (Assyria), located in the Dejla and Ferat valleys, which left a deep mark on world history, as well as the state of Hittite, located in Asia Minor.

In the 1st millennium BC - the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, such state formations as Manna, Iskim, Skit, Scythian and such strong states as Albania and Atropatena existed on the territory of Azerbaijan. These states played a major role in improving the culture of public administration, in the history of the country's economic culture, as well as in the process of forming a unified people.

At the beginning of our era, the country faced one of the most severe tests in its history - in the 3rd century, Azerbaijan was occupied by the Iranian Sassanid empire, and in the 7th century - by the Arab Caliphate. The occupiers resettled a large population of Iranian and Arab origin into the country.

In the first centuries of our era, Turkish ethnic groups, which made up the bulk of the country's population and were more organized and strong from a military-political point of view, played a crucial role in the process of forming a single people. Among the Turkish ethnic groups, Turkish Oguzes predominated.

Since the first centuries of our era, the Turkish language has also been the main means of communication between small peoples (minorities) and ethnic groups living on the territory of Azerbaijan, and also played a connecting role between the north and south. At that time, this factor played a very important role in the formation of a single people, since in the period being described there was still no single religious worldview - monotheism, covering the entire territory of Azerbaijan. The worship of Tanra - the main god of the ancient Turks - tanryism - has not yet sufficiently oppressed other religious worldviews and has not completely supplanted them. There was also Zarduism, fire worship, worship of the Sun, Moon, sky, stars, and so on. In the north of the country, in some parts of Albania, especially in its western regions, Christianity spread. However, the independent Albanian church operated in conditions of intense rivalry with neighboring Christian concessions.

With the adoption of the Islamic religion in the 7th century, a radical change occurred in the historical predestination of Azerbaijan. The Islamic religion gave a strong impetus to the formation of a single people and its language, played decisive role in accelerating this process.

The existence of a single religion between Turkic and non-Turkic ethnic groups throughout the territory of their distribution in Azerbaijan was the reason for the formation of common customs, the expansion of family relations between them, and their interaction.

The Islamic religion united under a single Turkic-Islamic banner all the Turkic and non-Turkic ethnic groups that accepted it, the entire Greater Caucasus, and contrasted it with the Byzantine Empire and the Georgian and Armenian feudal lords under its tutelage, who tried to subjugate them to Christianity. Since the middle of the 9th century, the traditions of the ancient statehood of Azerbaijan have been revived again.

A new political upsurge began in Azerbaijan: on the lands of Azerbaijan, where Islam was widespread, the states of the Sajids, Shirvanshahs, Salarids, Ravvadids and Shaddadids were created. As a result of the creation of independent states, there was a revival in all areas of political, economic and cultural life. The Renaissance era began in Azerbaijani history.

The creation of their own states (Sajids, Shirvanshahs, Salarids, Ravvadids, Sheddadids, Sheki rule) after enslavement by the Sassanids and Arabs for about 600 years, as well as the transformation of Islam throughout the country into a single state religion, played an important role in the ethnic development of the Azerbaijani people, in the formation of its culture.

At the same time, during that historical period, when individual feudal dynasties often replaced each other, the Islamic religion played a progressive role in uniting the entire Azerbaijani population - both the various Turkic tribes that played the main role in the formation of our people, and the non-Turkic ethnic groups that mixed with them , in the form of a united force against foreign invaders.

After the fall of the Arab Caliphate, starting from the middle of the 9th century, the role of Turkic-Islamic states increased, both in the Caucasus and throughout the Near and Middle East.

The states ruled by the Sajids, Shirvanshahs, Salarids, Ravvadids, Sheddadids, Sheki rulers, Seljuks, Eldaniz, Mongols, Elkhanid-Khilakuds, Timurids, Ottomanids, Garagoyunids, Aggoyunids, Safavids, Afshanids, Gajars and other Turkic-Islamic dynasties left deep trace in history statehood not only of Azerbaijan, but also of the entire Near and Middle East.

From the XV-XVIII centuries and in the subsequent period, the culture of Azerbaijan's statehood was further enriched. During this period, the empires of Garagoyunlu, Aggoyunlu, Safavids, Afshars and Gajars were ruled directly by Azerbaijani dynasties.

This important factor had a positive impact on the internal and international relations of Azerbaijan, expanded the sphere of military-political influence of our country and people, the sphere of use of the Azerbaijani language, and created favorable conditions for even greater moral and material development of the Azerbaijani people.

During the period described, along with the fact that the Azerbaijani states played an important role in international relations and the military-political life of the Near and Middle East, they took a very active part in Europe-East relations.

During the reign of the great statesman of Azerbaijan Uzun Hasan (1468-1478), the Aggoyunlu Empire turned into a powerful military-political factor throughout the Near and Middle East.

The culture of Azerbaijani statehood has received more greater development. Uzun Hasan introduced a policy of creating a powerful, centralized state, covering all lands of Azerbaijan. For this purpose, a special “Legislation” was published. At the direction of the great ruler, the “Korani-Kerim” was translated into Azerbaijani, and the outstanding scientist of his time, Abu-Bakr al-Tehrani, was entrusted with writing the Oguzname under the name “Kitabi-Diyarbekname”.

At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries, Azerbaijani statehood entered into new stage its historical development. The grandson of Uzun Hasan, the outstanding statesman Shah Ismail Khatai (1501-1524), completed the work begun by his grandfather and managed to unite all the northern and southern lands of Azerbaijan under his leadership.

A single Safavid state was formed, the capital of which was Tabriz. During the reign of the Safavids, the culture of Azerbaijani government grew even more. The Azerbaijani language became the state language.

As a result of successful reforms of domestic and foreign policy carried out by Shahs Ismail, Tahmasib, Abbas and other Safavid rulers, the Safavid state turned into one of the most powerful empires in the Near and Middle East.

The outstanding Azerbaijani commander Nadir Shah Afshar (1736-1747), who came to power after the fall of the Safavid state, further expanded the borders of the former Safavid empire. This great ruler of Azerbaijan, a native of the Afshar-Turkic tribe, conquered Northern India, including Delhi, in 1739. However, the plans of the great ruler to create a powerful, centralized state in this territory did not materialize. After the death of Nadir Shah, the wide-territorial empire he ruled fell.

Local states appeared on the soil of Azerbaijan, which, even during the life of Nadir Shah, made attempts to rise up to fight for their freedom and independence. Thus, in the second half of the 18th century, Azerbaijan broke up into small states - khanates and sultanates.

At the end of the 18th century, the Gajars (1796-1925), an Azerbaijani dynasty, came to power in Iran. The Gajars again began to implement the policy begun by their great-grandfathers of subordinating the Garagoyun, Aggoyun, Safavid and all other territories that were under the rule of Nadir Shah, including the Azerbaijani khanates, to centralized rule.

Thus began the era of many years of wars between the Gajars and Russia, which was trying to seize the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan has become a springboard for bloody wars between two great states.

Based on the Gulustan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) treaties, Azerbaijan was divided between two empires: Northern Azerbaijan was annexed to Russia, and Southern Azerbaijan was annexed to the Gajar-ruled Iranian Shah. Thus, in the subsequent history of Azerbaijan, new concepts appeared: “Northern (or Russian) Azerbaijan” and “Southern (or Iranian) Azerbaijan”.

To create support for itself in the South Caucasus, Russia began to massively resettle the Armenian population from neighboring regions to the occupied Azerbaijani lands, in particular, the mountainous regions of Karabakh, the territories of the former Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates. On the lands of Western Azerbaijan - the former territories of the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates, bordering Turkey, the so-called "Armenian region" was urgently created and for a specific purpose. This is how the foundation for the creation of the future Armenian state was laid on the soil of Azerbaijan.

In addition, in 1836 Russia liquidated the independent Albanian Christian Church and handed it over to the Armenian Gregorian Church. Thus, even more favorable conditions were created for the Gregorianization and Armenianization of Christian Albanians, who are the oldest population of Azerbaijan. The foundation was laid for new territorial claims of Armenians against Azerbaijanis. Not satisfied with all this, Tsarist Russia resorted to an even more dirty policy: having armed the Armenians, it raised them against the Turkic-Muslim population, which resulted in massacres of Azerbaijanis in almost the entire territory occupied by the Russians. Thus began the era of genocide of Azerbaijanis and the entire Turkic-Muslim people of the South Caucasus.

The struggle for freedom in Northern Azerbaijan ended in unprecedented tragedies. In March 1918, the Dashnak-Bolshevik government of S. Shaumyan, which seized power, carried out a ruthless genocide against the Azerbaijani people. Brotherly Turkey extended a helping hand to Azerbaijan and saved the Azerbaijani population from the wholesale massacre carried out by the Armenians. The liberation movement won and on May 28, 1918, the first democratic republic in the East was created in Northern Azerbaijan - the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, being the first parliamentary republic in the history of Azerbaijan, was, at the same time, an example of a democratic, legal and world state in the entire East, including the Turkic-Islamic world.

During the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the history of parliament was divided into two periods. The first period lasted from May 28, 1918 to November 19, 1918. During these 6 months, the first parliament in Azerbaijan - the Azerbaijan National Council, consisting of 44 Muslim-Turkic representatives, made extremely important historical decisions. On May 28, 1918, the Parliament declared the Independence of Azerbaijan, took over the issues of government and adopted the historic Declaration of Independence. The second period in the history of the parliament of Azerbaijan lasted 17 months - from December 7, 1918 to April 27, 1920. During this period, among others, it is necessary to note the Law on the establishment of the Baku State University adopted by Parliament on September 1, 1919. The opening of the national university was a very important service of the leaders of the Republic to their native people. Although the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic subsequently fell, the Baku State University played a vital role in implementing its ideas and in achieving a new level of independence for our people.

In general, during the existence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, 155 parliamentary meetings were held, of which 10 took place during the period of the Azerbaijan National Council (May 27 - November 19, 1918), and 145 during the period of the Azerbaijan Parliament (December 19, 1918 - April 27, 1920).

270 bills were submitted for discussion in Parliament, of which about 230 were adopted. Laws were discussed in a heated and business-like exchange of opinions and were rarely adopted before the third reading.

Despite the fact that the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic existed for only 23 months, it proved that even the most brutal regimes of colonies and repression are not able to destroy the ideals of freedom and traditions of independent statehood of the Azerbaijani people.

As a result of the military aggression of Soviet Russia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic fell. The independence of Azerbaijani statehood in Northern Azerbaijan has come to an end. On April 28, 1920, the creation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR) was announced on the territory of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

Immediately after the Soviet occupation, the process of destroying the system of independent government created during the existence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic began. The "Red Terror" reigned throughout the country. Anyone who could resist the strengthening of the Bolshevik regime was immediately destroyed as an “enemy of the people,” “counter-revolutionary,” or “saboteur.”

Thus, after the March genocide of 1918, new round genocide of the Azerbaijani people. The difference was that this time the chosen people of the nation were destroyed - outstanding statesmen Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, generals and officers of the National Army, advanced intelligentsia, religious figures, party leaders, politicians, famous scientists. This time the Bolshevik-Dashnak regime deliberately destroyed the entire advanced part of the people in order to leave the people without leaders. In reality, this genocide was even more terrible than the one carried out in March 1918.

The convening of the first Congress of Soviets of the Azerbaijan SSR on March 6, 1921 completed the Sovietization of Northern Azerbaijan. On May 19 of the same year, the first Constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR was adopted.

After the Azerbaijani people lost their independent government, the plunder of their wealth began. Private ownership of land was abolished. Everyone was nationalized natural resources countries, or rather, they began to be considered state property. In particular, to manage the oil industry, the Azerbaijan Oil Committee was created, and the management of this committee was entrusted to A.P. Serebrovsky, sent to Baku personally by V.I. Lenin. Thus, Lenin, who sent a telegram on March 17, 1920 to the Military Revolutionary Council of the Caucasian Front, which said: “It is extremely important for us to conquer Baku” and gave the order to capture Northern Azerbaijan, achieved his dream - Baku oil passed into the hands of Soviet Russia.

In the 30s, large-scale repressions were carried out against the entire Azerbaijani people. In 1937 alone, 29 thousand people were subjected to repression. And all of them were the most worthy sons of Azerbaijan. During this period, the Azerbaijani people lost tens and hundreds of their thinkers and intellectuals such as Huseyn Javid, Mikail Mushfig, Ahmed Javad, Salman Mumtaz, Ali Nazmi, Taghi Shahbazi and others. The intellectual potential of the people, its best representatives, was destroyed. The Azerbaijani people could not recover from this terrible blow over the next decades.

In 1948-1953, a new stage of mass expulsion of Azerbaijanis began from their ancient homeland - Western Azerbaijan (the so-called territory of the Armenian SSR). The Armenians, supported and encouraged by the Russians, became even more entrenched in the lands of Western Azerbaijan. They were provided with a numerical advantage in this territory. Despite the great successes achieved as a result of the creative activities of the Azerbaijani people, for a number of objective and subjective reasons, negative trends began to appear in many areas of the Azerbaijani economy - both in industry and in agriculture.

In the difficult situation in which the Republic found itself, significant changes took place in the leadership of Azerbaijan. In 1969, the first period of Heydar Aliyev’s leadership of Azerbaijan began. In the difficult historical situation of the reign of a totalitarian regime great patron native people, Heydar Aliyev began to implement extensive reform programs to transform Azerbaijan into one of the most advanced republics of the USSR.

The great politician first achieved the adoption of favorable resolutions at the Politburo level Central Committee Communist Party of the USSR, plenums of the Central Committee, congresses of the Communist Party by decision most important tasks necessary for the development of their homeland, their people in various spheres of the economy (including agriculture) and culture. Then he mobilized the entire people to implement these resolutions and tirelessly fought for the prosperity of his native Azerbaijan. The task of transforming Azerbaijan into a country capable of living independently, self-sufficient and highly developed from a scientific and technical point of view (in the terminology of that time - into an administrative-territorial unit) was at the forefront of his plans. In a word, the path leading to independence was started back then by Heydar Aliyev.

In 1970-1985, during a historically short time, hundreds of plants, factories, and industries were created on the territory of the Republic. 213 large industrial enterprises were built and started working. In many industries, Azerbaijan occupied leading positions in the USSR. 350 types of products produced in Azerbaijan were exported to 65 countries. The enormous historical significance of all these creative works carried out by Heydar Aliyev in the first period of his leadership was that the people again awakened feelings of freedom and independence. This, in fact, was the entry of the Azerbaijani people into a new stage in the rise of the liberation movement in the 70s of the 20th century.

The last one, on this moment, the stage in the history of statehood of Azerbaijan that began on the eve of the fall of the USSR on October 18, 1991 with the adoption of the Constitution Act “On State Independence of the Azerbaijan Republic” continues successfully to this day.

Throughout their history, the Azerbaijani states went through periods of rise and decline, were subjected to internal disintegration and external occupation. But, despite this, Azerbaijan has always maintained peaceful and calm relations with its neighbors. However, the “peace-loving” neighbors, especially the Armenians who settled in Western Azerbaijan, always looked at the Azerbaijani lands with envy and, at any opportunity, seized certain territories.

In 1988, separatist terrorist groups of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, together with the armed forces of Armenia, began to carry out military operations with the aim of appropriating Nagorno-Karabakh. They were joined by units of the USSR armed forces located in Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. At the beginning, the places of residence of Azerbaijanis in Karabakh were seized. On January 19, 1992, Kerkijahan was captured, and on February 10, the villages of Malybeyli and Gushchular. The peaceful unarmed population was subjected to forcible eviction. The blockade of Khojaly and Shushi narrowed. In mid-February, Armenian and Soviet military units captured the village of Garadaghly. On the night of February 25-26, the most tragic event in modern history Azerbaijan. Armenian military formations, together with soldiers of the 366th motorized rifle regiment of Russia, committed a terrible massacre of the Azerbaijani civilian population in the village of Khojaly.

In March 1992, while the popular movement was getting stronger, the head of the Republic, A. Mutallibov, resigned. The resulting void in governance further weakened the defense capacity of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As a result, in May 1992, Armenian and Soviet military units captured Shusha. Thus, the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh was almost completely captured. The next step was the capture of the Lachin region, dividing Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh. Continuing infighting of the new government during its reign Popular Front Azerbaijan dealt a heavy blow to the defense capability of the Republic. In April 1993, Kalbajar was captured. At the request of the people, Heydar Aliyev came to power again.

With the return to power of Heydar Aliyev, a decisive turn took place in the life of Azerbaijan. After several political steps, a wise politician eliminated the danger civil war. The national leader, Heydar Aliyev, took the correct position on issues of war. As a wise strategist, he calculated the real situation in the country, took into account the forces and plans of our insidious enemies and their international patrons, as well as the entire danger of the bloody whirlpool in which Azerbaijan found itself, and correctly assessed the situation. Based on the real situation, he achieved a ceasefire.

The national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, saved the people and the Motherland from national and moral decay and the possibility of collapse. He suspended the implementation of erroneous decisions of previous “leaders”, which they adopted based not on the instructive lessons of the historical past, not on the realities of the changed world, not on the truth of domestic and international life, but on emotions. The true meaning of the concept of "Azerbaijan" was restored and returned to our land, our people, our language. Thus, the Islamic-Turkic past of our people, love for the Motherland and the language of our people, which are the basis of our power and unity, were restored. The real possibility of an ethnic clash was prevented. The arrows of our enemies missed us in this matter as well.

Today, the authority and influence of independent Azerbaijan in the international arena is constantly growing. The Republic of Azerbaijan has gained democratic, legal and state authority throughout the world. Our fundamental law, which is the creation of the mind of Heydar Aliyev, is one of the most democratic and perfect Constitutions in the world. She aroused respect for our Motherland in international society. The calm that reigns in our country and the internal reforms being implemented have a positive impact on expanding relations with foreign countries. The Republic of Azerbaijan, building its foreign policy on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, has become an open country for all countries of the world.

The Caucasus, or rather its southern part, has a rich thousand-year history and is even considered one of the places where civilization arose. And this is not surprising, because the rich nature and climatic conditions of this region have long attracted people. Today, people of different nationalities living in the Caucasus profess different religions. Each of the states located there has its own unique history. This material will briefly outline the history of Azerbaijan - everything from the very beginning up to the present day.

Cradle of Civilizations

On the territory of modern Azerbaijan, the first people appeared in the Stone Age. In one of the caves located in the lands of Karabakh, researchers found various stone tools: arrowheads, knives, axes, including those intended for processing wood and cutting up carcasses. A Neanderthal jaw was also discovered there, and the age of the drawings left by a certain artist is 10 thousand years.

Perhaps the history of Azerbaijan begins with the primitive communal system. People have lived here since ancient times. The remains of ancient settlements have been excavated near Mount Killidag. It is known that the primitive people who lived on this land were engaged in hunting, as well as cattle breeding and agriculture.

Lands of Azerbaijan BC

Primitive people who lived on the territory of modern Azerbaijan improved their skills. Over time, they learned to process copper, and in the 4th millennium BC. e. and iron. More advanced tools made it possible to increase productivity, which ultimately led to the stratification of society and the decline of the primitive communal system. Gradually new tribes were formed, among which were the Lullubeys, Maneis, Kutii, Albanians and others.

Where does the history of Azerbaijan as a state originate? At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. in these lands the state of Manna was formed, which then became part of the more powerful Media. However, in those days, many wars of conquest were fought in this territory - the Scythians and Cimmerians, and then the Persians and Macedonians invaded here.

Atropatena and Albania Caucasus

After in the 4th century BC. e. Alexander the Great defeated the Persian troops, within the boundaries inherent in the modern South Azerbaijan, a new state arose - Atropatena with its capital in Gazak. It was a fairly developed country, with writing and monetary relations, in which the “cult of fire” or Zoroastrianism predominated. Atropatene existed until 150 AD. e. By the way, the origin of the toponym Azerbaijan is associated with the name of this state.

Approximately simultaneously with the emergence of Atropatena, the state of Caucasian Albania was formed to the north of this country, the capital of which was the city of Kabala, whose ruins are located on the territory of the Gabala region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The population of this country consists of the Albanian, Legian and Udi tribes. Of course, the ancient history of Azerbaijan originates from these states.

In Caucasian Albania, Christianity becomes the main religion; writing is also present here and has its own alphabet, and the lands of this country are extremely fertile. Residents of Caucasian Albania are successfully engaged in agriculture, and crafts are flourishing. Examples of products made by Albanian artisans were discovered at excavations in Mingachevir.

VII-XII centuries Invasions of Arabs and Seljuk Turks

The history of Azerbaijan consists of many aggressive raids to which these lands have been subjected over the centuries. Thus, in the 7th century, the Arab Caliphate invaded Transcaucasia, which resulted in the spread of Islam to these lands. A peasant uprising that arose in 816 and lasted 20 years was suppressed, after which the states that existed at that time disintegrated into many feudal principalities. Among them, the state of Shirvan, located in the northeast of Azerbaijan, subsequently played a special role.

In the middle of the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks came to the region and managed to subjugate most of the territories of today's Azerbaijan. The nomadic conquerors caused serious damage to the agriculture that flourished here, but over time they themselves switched to a sedentary lifestyle. Based on the Turkic language, mixed with the language of the local population, the Azerbaijani language was subsequently formed.

As a result of the struggle waged by the local population against foreign invaders, the Turks were practically driven out of the region in the 12th century. These victories created the preconditions for strengthening statehood and further socio-economic progress. Agriculture and handicrafts are flourishing as never before, and there has been significant development in the fields of science and culture. Perhaps the history of the creation of Azerbaijan originates precisely in this period, when the disunited principalities united under the leadership of the Atebeks of Azerbaijan.

XIII - XVI centuries. Mongol invasion. The struggle for dominance in the Caucasus

The troubles of the ancestors of modern Azerbaijanis do not end with the departure of the Turks - at the beginning of the 13th century the invasion of the Mongol horde begins. The conquerors destroyed many prosperous cities and destroyed the region's irrigation network. Their presence here led to the suspension of the development of the region for almost two centuries. The then Azerbaijan was part of the Mongolian state of the Hulagids. The region's revival occurred in the 14th century, when the Khulagid state finally collapsed. During the same period, diplomatic relations were established between Shirvan and Russia.

In the second half of the 15th century, the struggle for dominance in the region intensified. And already at the beginning of the 16th century, the Safavid dynasty seized power in Shirvan, as a result of which the Safavid state was founded, which subsequently had a significant influence on Azerbaijan. The history of the country during this period was marked by the rapid development of science, culture and, in particular, literature.

The end of the 16th - first half of the 19th centuries. Partition of Azerbaijan

The end of the 16th century, like the entire history of Azerbaijan, was marked by new upheavals associated with the struggle between Turkey and the Safavid state for the right to dominate the Caucasus. In the 18th century, the dominance of Iran was established in Azerbaijan, which ended due to the outbreak of anti-feudal protests that led to the assassination of Nadir Shah, the ruler of Iran. After this, more than a dozen khanates were formed on the lands of Azerbaijan, whose independence continued to be threatened by Iran and Turkey. The rulers of some khanates decide to seek support from Russia.

As a result of the Russian-Iranian wars of the first half of the 19th century century, Azerbaijan again lost its independence and was divided into two parts. Accordingly, the northern part went to Russia, and the southern part to Iran.

Second half of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Azerbaijan within Russia

In the second half of the 19th century, the country began to experience rapid growth in oil production. However, it has been mined here since time immemorial. In 1893, active construction began railways, which already by 1890 connected Azerbaijan with Russia. Industrial progress, as well as the integration of Azerbaijan into the Russian economy and the subsequent reforms are yielding positive results. There is also a significant infusion of money into the country’s economy, including Western ones.

The history of Azerbaijan as part of Russia also contains many interesting facts. At the turn of the century, the first social democratic circles were created in Baku. The proletariat of the capital takes part in various strikes and strikes that arise as a result of the difficult situation of the Azerbaijani people, which was aggravated by the outbreak of the First World War.

Azerbaijan within the USSR

As a result of the revolutions of 1917, the struggle for Azerbaijan begins again. The history of the emergence of an independent state in its current form begins here. In the spring of the following year, the independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed here, the supremacy of which Nagorno-Karabakh refused to recognize. The establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan in 1920 put an end to the disagreements.

Along with all other peoples living on the territory of the USSR, the Azerbaijani people took part in the Great Patriotic War. The country produced significant amount ammunition and fuel for the Soviet army. Over a hundred Azerbaijani soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Gaining independence

In 1991, due to the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan finally gained independence. The authorities of the newly created state set a course for building a democratic society. Multinational country is Azerbaijan. The history of the state, in which people of various nationalities have coexisted for centuries, is perhaps just beginning.

It only remains to add that the traditional traits inherent in the Azerbaijani people since ancient times have always been hospitality, respect for elders, tolerance and peacefulness.

By the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. The internal and foreign political situation of Azerbaijan was extremely difficult. First of all, this manifested itself in political and economic backwardness caused by the dominance of subsistence farming, the feudal fragmentation of the country and civil strife. It is also impossible to ignore the fact that the invasions of foreign invaders represented by Iran constantly prevented the creation of a centralized state in Azerbaijan and the emergence of capitalist relations. Azerbaijan, like other Transcaucasian countries, could not successfully develop its economy with internal forces alone and at the same time prevent attacks from external enemies.

As historical practice shows, the best way to centralize the state can only be the establishment of restrained control on the part of a more powerful state, but in this situation a double situation arises: the line between control and enslavement is thin. In the case of Azerbaijan, the following picture of events emerged: attempts by individual khans to unite Azerbaijan under their rule were doomed to failure, then the country could only expect the forceful subjugation of isolated territories by Iran or Turkey. Another option was to search for a military-political patron with his own economic interests, which would also allow the development of an independent economic system in Azerbaijan itself.

Tsarist Russia became such a patron for him, expressing the interests of noble landowners and merchants, striving to conquer new economic zones, expand sales markets and obtain sources of raw materials. Transcaucasia, including Azerbaijan, given its strategic and economic importance, became the most attractive object of tsarist Russia's foreign policy. The conquest of this region would decide the balance of power in the traditional Russian-Turkish rivalry in favor of Russia.

Regardless of the subjective aspirations of tsarism, the annexation of Transcaucasia to Russia objectively should have led to progressive consequences. By the beginning of the 19th century. Capitalist relations developed in Russia, industry and trade grew. St. Petersburg, Moscow and many other cities became major economic and cultural centers.

Russia acted in the East as an advanced country. F. Engels wrote that “Russia really plays a progressive role in relation to the East”, that “Russia’s dominance plays a civilizing role for the Black and Caspian Seas and Central Asia, for the Bashkirs and Tatars...".

In the specific historical situation of that time great importance had a further strengthening of the Russian orientation of Azerbaijan, which played an important role in its accession to Russia. The most far-sighted feudal rulers of Azerbaijan at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. sought to strengthen economic and political ties with Russia, wanted to become its citizenship. Because they wanted good relations with a strong power, this would help develop trade. In 1800, the Talysh Khanate was accepted under the patronage of Russia. In 1801, ambassadors of the Talysh, Baku and Kuba khanates arrived at the court of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825), who negotiated the terms of joining Russia.

Western European powers, especially England and France, who also had aggressive plans for the Transcaucasus, closely monitored Russia's actions in the Transcaucasus and sought to thwart its plans.

The annexation of Eastern Georgia to Russia in 1801 was of great importance for all the peoples of the Caucasus. September 12, 1801 The tsar's manifesto on the annexation of the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom to Russia was published. The Georgian province was formed, headed by the commander-in-chief of the troops and a civilian ruler. This province also included part of the territory of Azerbaijan - the Gazakh, Borchali and Shamshadil sultanates, which were in vassal dependence on the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom and, together with the latter, were annexed to Russia. Consequently, with the annexation of Georgia to Russia, the conquest of Azerbaijani lands by Russia began.

At the same time the composition Russian state The Kazakh and Shamshadil sultanates, mainly populated by Azerbaijanis, entered. The annexation of Azerbaijan to Russia began. The rescript of Alexander 1 dated September 12, 1801 said: “Containing relations with the surrounding owners and peoples, try to increase the number of those committed to Russia, especially attract the khans of Erivan, Ganja, Sheki, Shirvan, Baku and others, over whom the power of Baba Khan is still has not established itself and therefore, in the present circumstances, for their own safety, they will, of course, be more inclined towards Russia.”

The tsarist government, while supporting individual khans of Azerbaijan from the aggressive aspirations of Iran and Turkey, did not at all intend to grant independence to these feudal rulers, although for some reasons it intended, after the khanates came under the patronage of Russia, to retain the khan's power for some time during internal management, provide a guarantee of compliance internal regulations and customs.

During this period, the conductor of the colonialist policy in Transcaucasia was Prince P. Tsitsianov, who came from an old Georgian noble family, who in September 1802 was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the Caucasus. The tsarist government, having entrusted all civil and military power in Transcaucasia to him, hoped with his help to “pacify” the Caucasus. Tsitsianov was distinguished by his contemptuous and cruel attitude towards the peoples of the Caucasus. This is evidenced by his humiliating letters sent to many Azerbaijani khans during the conquest of Azerbaijan by Russia. Using the territory of Eastern Georgia as a starting point, the tsarist government began to implement its plan regarding Azerbaijan.

General Tsitsianov attached great importance to the capture of the Ganja Khanate, since the Ganja fortress was the key to the further advance of Russian troops deep into Azerbaijan.

The Ganja Khanate was annexed to Russia without bloodshed, and was turned into a district, and Ganja was renamed Elizavetpol in honor of the wife of Alexander I.

The annexation of Georgia and the conquest of part of Northern Azerbaijan by Russia caused discontent on the part of the ruling circles of Iran and Turkey, as well as England and France, which were friendly to them during this period. Over the next few decades, these states attempted different ways turn the local ruling elite into their allies and provoke social unrest in the country, directed primarily against Russia.

In 1800, an English officer, a “specialist in Eastern affairs,” Malcolm, arrived in Iran and concluded an agreement with the Shah’s government directed against Russia. When negotiating with the Shah's court, the British widely used bribery. K. Marx noted that England, in the name of its aggressive interests, spent enormous amounts of money in Iran on bribing everyone and everything - “from the Shah to the camel driver.”

The Iranian feudal elite, led by Fethali Shah, in May 1804 demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transcaucasia. The demand was rejected and on June 10, 1804, diplomatic relations between Russia and Iran were broken. The Russian-Iranian war began, which lasted about 10 years.

The foreign policy position of Russia and its subordinate peoples at this time was unstable. The peoples of the Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, played a significant role in this war. For example, even before the invasion of Karabakh, Abbas-Mirza threatened the Kazakhs , that if they refuse to recognize Iranian power, their “families will be captured” and all their livestock will be stolen. However, the Kazakhs rejected this demand and strengthened strategically important points. When the Shah's troops invaded Kazakh, local residents organized a large detachment and defeated them, capturing many trophies.

Taking advantage of the respite during military operations, the Russian government hastened to subjugate the Shirvan, Baku and Kuba khanates to expand its possessions in Transcaucasia. On December 27, 1805, an agreement was signed on the transfer of the Shirvan Khanate to Russian rule.

Having taken the Shirvan Khanate, Russia opened its way to Baku. Baku was the most attractive port for Russia and the most important strategic point on the Caspian coast and was taken without any military action. Huseynguli Khan fled to Iran and on October 3, Baku was finally annexed to Russia, and the Baku Khanate was abolished.

Thus, at the end of 1806, the entire territory of Northern Azerbaijan, with the exception of the Talysh Khanate, was in the possession of Russia. However, this did not simplify the situation of the southern borders.

At the end of 1806, Türkiye started a war against Russia. Russian troops won a number of victories on the Caucasian and Balkan fronts of the Russian-Turkish war.

At this time, social unrest swept across Azerbaijan. Having dealt with uprisings and other uprisings in the northern khanates of Azerbaijan, the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops, General Gudovich, contributed to some reshuffles among the local feudal rulers. Thus, the Derbent and Kuba khanates were temporarily placed under the authority of Shamkhal Tarkovsky, and later turned into provinces of the empire. Jafarguli Khan Khoyski, who defected to Russia at the beginning of the Russian-Iranian war, was appointed Sheki Khan. A significant part of the population - Azerbaijanis and Armenians - moved to Sheki from the Khoy Khanate, forming a number of new villages, as well as a new suburb of Nukha - Yenikend. In Karabakh, Gudovich established Mehtiguli Khan in power - the son of Ibrahim Khalil Khan. With the signing of the Bucharest Peace Treaty Turkey also stopped military operations against Russia under the Treaty of 1812. Thus, Iran had to fight Russia alone

The Russian-Iranian war ended with the Treaty of Gulistan on October 12 (24), 1813, signed in the town of Gulistan on behalf of Russia by Lieutenant General N.F. Rtishchev and on behalf of Iran by Mirza Abul-Hasan. Negotiations on a truce began back in 1812 on the initiative of the Iranian commander, heir to the throne Abbas Mirza.

Even after the conclusion of the Gulistan Peace Treaty, the ruling circles of Iran did not abandon their aggressive claims to Transcaucasia. As before, England pushed Iran to war with Russia. In 1814, she signed a treaty with Iran directed against Russia. In the event of a war between Iran and Russia, England pledged to annually pay the Shah 200 thousand tomans, which were to be spent under the supervision of the British ambassador. The agreement also provided for the “mediation” of the British, that is, their direct intervention, in determining the Russian-Iranian border. This agreement not only placed Iran in a dependent position on the British government, but also provoked it to war with Russia.

England sent its officers to Iran, with their help regular regiments were formed, which were supplied with English weapons. In Iran, British agents intensified their activities and delivered important information to England.

Incited by England, the Iranian government presented Russia with demands for the concession of the Talysh Khanate and Mugan. With the assistance of the British ambassador in St. Petersburg, the Shah's court tried to achieve a revision of the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan. For this purpose, an extraordinary ambassador was sent from Tehran to St. Petersburg.

In turn, the Russian government sent a diplomatic mission to Tehran led by General Ermolov. As a result of the machinations of English diplomacy, he met with a hostile reception. No agreement was reached on any of the issues that were negotiated, and Russian-Iranian relations continued to remain strained.

Iran was preparing for a new war. The Russian consul reported from Tabriz about the cannon fire of Abbas Mirza's troops, constantly carrying out exercises. “The artillery in its image and regulations is completely English,” wrote A.P. Ermolov from Iran.

Iran tried to raise rebellions in the khanates of Azerbaijan, with the help of the khans who fled to Iran. In addition, Iran wanted to improve relations with Turkey to fight Russia.

On July 16, 1826, a 60,000-strong Iranian army under the command of Abbas Mirza crossed Arak without declaring war and invaded the northern part of Azerbaijan. Enemy troops exterminated, robbed and tortured the population of Transcaucasia, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, and Georgians.

The main forces of the Iranian army moved to Karabakh. Foreign officers in the service of Abbass Mirza took an active part in the siege. Russian soldiers, with the help of the population, steadfastly defended the city. The defenders of the fortress threw burning rags soaked in oil from the walls, and the flames illuminated the columns of the attacking sarbaz. Even women and girls took part in the defense of the city: under enemy fire, they gave ammunition to the soldiers and bandaged the wounded. The assault was repulsed.

The enemy tried again and again to take control of Shusha. During one of these attempts, the attackers, on the orders of Abbas Mirza, drove hundreds of captive residents of Karabakh before them. The Iranian command threatened the prisoners that they would all be killed if they did not persuade their compatriots to surrender the city. But the prisoners said: “It would be better for several hundred people to die than for the whole people to fall under heavy oppression...”.

The defense of Shushi lasted 48 days. Abbas Mirza's army was never able to capture the city. The heroic defense of the fortress delayed the advance of the main forces of the invaders for a long time.

At the same time, the Iranian army attacked other khanates of Azerbaijan. As a result of the invasion of Iranian troops and rebellions organized and led by the khans, many provinces of Azerbaijan, which had barely healed their wounds after the first Russian-Iranian war, were again devastated.

By the fall of 1826, reinforcements were transferred from Russia to Transcaucasia. The command of the troops was entrusted to General I.F. Paskevich, and A.P. Ermolov remained the commander-in-chief in the Caucasus for some time. Soon the Russian army launched a counteroffensive.

Russian troops began to win and return the khanates captured by Iran. The Shah's government, extremely alarmed by the victories of the Russian troops, hastened to begin peace negotiations.

Joining Russia saved the Azerbaijani people from the danger of enslavement by backward Iran and Turkey. Only by throwing in their lot with the Russian people, the peoples of the Caucasus, tormented by foreign conquerors, were saved from extermination and freed from the devastating invasions and raids of Iranian and Turkish feudal lords.

The outstanding Azerbaijani philosopher, playwright, educator and public figure Mirza Fatali Akhundov, who in 1877 wrote: “...Thanks to the patronage of the Russian state, we got rid of the endless invasions that took place in the past” and the robberies of the predatory hordes and finally found peace.”

In the northern part of Azerbaijan, the tendency towards worsening feudal fragmentation was eliminated, and the internecine wars that ruined the country and hampered its development stopped. The elimination of political fragmentation and the associated first steps towards the economic development of Northern Azerbaijan by Russia were of great importance for its subsequent development.

One of the immediate results of Azerbaijan’s annexation to Russia, which was already felt in the first quarter of the 19th century, was a noticeable development of commodity-money relations. In the 19th century Azerbaijan gradually began to be drawn into the mainstream of Russia’s economic development, joined Russian market and through it was involved in world trade turnover. Under the influence of the Russian economy in Azerbaijan, although slowly, economic isolation was destroyed, productive forces grew, capitalist relations emerged, and a working class began to form.

The accession of Azerbaijan to Russia significantly contributed to the introduction of the Azerbaijani people to advanced Russian culture. Russia, with its progressive culture, provided beneficial influence on the Azerbaijani people and other peoples of the Caucasus.

At the same time, the heavy oppression of tsarism, landowners and capitalists put pressure on the Russian people and on all the peoples of Russia. The masses of non-Russian nationalities, including the Azerbaijani people, were subjected to the double oppression of tsarism and local exploiters. Relying on local landowners and the bourgeoisie, tsarism pursued a cruel colonialist policy in Azerbaijan, savagely suppressed the national liberation movement, and hampered the development of the Azerbaijani language and culture.

But even under the conditions of the colonial oppression of Tsarist Russia, being powerless and oppressed, the peoples of the Caucasus invariably gravitated towards the Russian people, in whose person they found a friend and protector in the struggle for their social and national liberation." Under the powerful influence of the revolutionary movement in Russia in the future, a new stage in the liberation movement in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani people, together with other peoples of our country, led by the Russian people, led the struggle against the common enemy - tsarism, landowners and the bourgeoisie.

The annexation of Transcaucasia to Russia was of enormous international significance. It dealt a blow to the aggressive aspirations of the Shah of Iran and Sultan Turkey and the British and French colonialists behind them, and contributed to the subsequent rapprochement of the peoples of Russia and the East.

The history of Azerbaijan dates back to the Paleolithic era.

Profitable geographical position and the favorable climatic conditions of Azerbaijan contributed to the appearance of humans on its territory already in ancient times. In the north-west of Azerbaijan, stone tools were discovered on Mount Aveydag and in the Azykh cave in Garabagh. In addition, the lower jaw of one of the oldest forms of Neanderthal was found in the Azykh cave. Monuments of the Bronze Age were discovered in Khojaly. Gadabey, Dashkesan, Ganja. Mingachevir, in Nakhchivan. Not far from Baku, in Gobustan, at the site of the settlement of ancient people, rock paintings dating back about 10 thousand years have been preserved. Here is a rock with a Latin inscription telling about the stay of a centurion of the Roman legion in Gobustan in the 1st century AD: “The time of Emperor Domitian Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Lucius Julius Maximus. Centurion of the XII Lightning Legion.

At the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. the prerequisites for the emergence of the first class societies were formed. The first state formations on the territory of Azerbaijan were the tribal unions of the Mannaeans and then the Medes.

In the 1st millennium BC. e. Cadusians, Caspians, Albanians, etc. also lived on the territory of Azerbaijan.

In the 9th century BC. e. The state of Mana arose. In the 7th century BC. Another large state arose - Media, which subsequently extended its power over a vast territory. This state reached its greatest power during the reign of King Cyaxares (625-584 BC), becoming the largest empire of the Ancient East.

By the middle of the 4th century BC. e. Power in Media passed into the hands of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty. The Achaemenid state fell under the attacks of the troops of Alexander the Great and at the end of the 4th century BC. The state of Atropatena (“the country of the keepers of fire”) was formed. The main religion in Atropatene was fire worship - Zoroastrianism, high level Economic and cultural life was achieved in the country, Pahlavi writing was used, money circulation expanded, crafts developed, in particular, the manufacture of woolen fabrics was widely known.

In the 1st century BC. - I century AD The state of Albania Caucasus arose.

At the beginning of the 4th century, Christianity was adopted as the state religion in Albania; temples were erected throughout the country, many of which have survived to this day.

At the beginning of the 5th century, Albania developed its own alphabet of 52 letters. Throughout its history, Azerbaijan was repeatedly invaded by foreign conquerors; raids by nomadic tribes, Huns, Khazars, and others were carried out through the Derbend Pass.

In the middle of the 7th century, the Arab invasion of Azerbaijan began. During the resistance, the Albanian commander Dzhevanshir, the head of the feudal possession of Girdyman, who later became the ruler of Albania, became famous.

At the beginning of the 8th century Arab Caliphate captured Azerbaijan. Since then, the religion of Azerbaijan is Islam.

In the 9th century there was a major popular uprising, which developed into a peasant war under the leadership of Babek. The war covered a vast territory equal to the territories of modern European powers. For twenty years, Babek, thanks to his extraordinary military leadership and organizational talent, led the peasant state. In the 2nd half of the 9th - 1st half of the 10th centuries, a number of feudal states formed and strengthened in Azerbaijan, among which the state of the Shirvanshahs, with its center in the city of Shamakhi, especially stood out. It existed until the 16th century and played a huge role in the history of medieval Azerbaijan.

For many centuries, the Azerbaijani people, their scientists, poets and writers, architects and artists have created a high culture, contributing to the treasury of world civilization. An outstanding monument of Azerbaijani folk literature is the heroic epic “Kitabi Dede Gorgud”. In XI - XII centuries prominent scientists Makki ibn Ahmed, Bakhmanyar, poet-thinkers Khatib Tabrizi, Khagani, poetess Mehseti Ganjavi and others lived and worked. Masterpieces of architecture of this era have been preserved in Azerbaijan: the mausoleums of Yusuf ibn Kuseyir and Momine Khatun in Nakhchivan, etc. The pinnacle of social and cultural Azerbaijan's thoughts of this period were the works of Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209), which was included in the golden fund of world literature.

In the 20-30s of the 13th century, the Mongol invasion interrupted the economic and cultural rise of Azerbaijan, and from the end of the 14th century, Azerbaijan was invaded by Tamerlane’s troops. These invasions slowed down, but did not stop the development of Azerbaijani culture.

In the 13th - 14th centuries, outstanding poets Zulfigar Shirvani, Avkhedi Maragai, Izzeddin Hasan-ogly, scientists Nasireddin Tusi - the founder of the Maragha Observatory, philosopher Mahmud Shabustari, historians Fazlullah Rashidaddin, Muhammad Nakhchiv ani and others lived and worked.

The main centers of Azerbaijani culture at the end of the 14th - 15th centuries. - Tabriz and Shamakhi. During this period, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs was erected in Baku - a masterpiece of medieval Azerbaijani architecture, the Blue Mosque was built in Tabriz, etc. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Safavid state arose with its capital in Tabriz, which played a significant role in the history of Azerbaijan. The founder of this state was Shah Ismail I (1502-24). For the first time, all the lands of Azerbaijan were united into a single state. In the middle of the 18th century, the process of formation of independent states - khanates - began on the territory of Azerbaijan. Various khanates were famous various types crafts. Sheki was the center of silk weaving, the production of copper utensils and weapons developed in the Shirvan Khanate, carpet weaving in the Guba Khanate, etc. The historical conditions of the 17th - 18th centuries found their expression in the culture of Azerbaijan.

An outstanding monument of folk art is the heroic epic "Koroglu", named after the folk hero - the leader of the peasants who opposed foreign and local oppressors. Among the outstanding monuments of Azerbaijani poetry of the period of the 16th - 17th centuries is the work of the great poet Fuzuli. In the first half of the 19th century, as a result of the Russian-Iranian wars, Azerbaijan was divided into two parts. According to the Gulistan and Turkmenchay peace treaties of 1813 and 1828, concluded between Russia and Iran, the Garabagh, Ganja, Shirvan, Sheki, Baku, Derbend, Guba, Talysh, Nakhchivan, Erivan khanates and other territories went to Russia. The oil industry played a great role in the development of Azerbaijan and its capital, Baku, in the subsequent period. Oil has been produced in the Baku region since time immemorial. In the second half of the 19th century, an unprecedented increase in oil production began. The first large industrial enterprises appeared. Primitive oil wells were replaced by boreholes. Since 1873, steam engines began to be used in drilling.

High profits attracted domestic and foreign capital to the oil industry of the Baku region. In 1901, oil production here accounted for about 50% of all world oil production. IN mid-19th century, the German company Siemens built two copper smelters in Gadabey, which accounted for a quarter of the copper smelted in Tsarist Russia. On May 28, 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed. It was the first republic in the entire Muslim East. The republic lasted almost two years and was overthrown by Soviet Russia. On April 28, 1920, the 11th Red Army entered the capital of Azerbaijan. According to the Constitution of 1936, Azerbaijan became a union republic within the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted the declaration “On the restoration of the State Independent Republic of Azerbaijan”, and the sovereign Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has faced a number of difficult problems associated with the collapse of the planned economy and the difficulties of the transition period. In solving these and other problems, including those related to strengthening the independence of the republic, the contract signed in September 1994 with the Consortium of Leading International Oil Companies, also called the “Contract of the Century,” is of great importance.

Azerbaijanis have always been distinguished, despite any adversity, by faith in the future and great optimism. And today, when our young republic has embarked on the path of its independent development, we believe that Azerbaijan will take a place in the world worthy of its past, present and future.

Historical and cultural monuments are evidence of the centuries-old history of Azerbaijan. For thousands of years, the vibrant and multifaceted history of Azerbaijan has been embodied by the talent of the people in numerous priceless relics. The country has preserved ruins of ancient and medieval cities, defensive structures- fortresses and towers, magnificent architectural monuments - temples, mosques, khanegas, mausoleums, palaces, caravanserais, etc.