History of Azerbaijan

This article is about the history of Azerbaijan. For the history of Iranian Azerbaijan, please see the history of Iran

Azerbaijan or Azarbeijan (Azerbaijani: Azerbaycan, Azerbeycan) is historically and geographically Eurasian and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The region is something of a borderland between what is considered Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. Azerbaijan is the home of the Azerbaijanis (Azeri Turks, Azaris or Azeris, amongst other names) who number more than 8 million in the independent Republic of Azerbaijan, and at least 20 million in the northwestern region of Iran referred to as Iranian Azerbaijan.

Overview

The heritage, culture and civilization of Azerbaijan has both ancient and modern roots. The Azerbaijanis are believed to be inheritors of various ancient civilizations and peoples including the indigenous Caucasian Albanians, Arattans, and Oguz Turks among others. (Note that several modern peoples of the Caucasus can trace their ancestries to more than one of these same ancient peoples.) Perhaps to clarify who the Turkic-speaking Azeris are by way of ancestry, recent evidence from Genealogical DNA tests show that the modern Azeris of the republic of Azerbaijan genetically cluster the closest with the peoples of the Caucasus (such as the Georgians and the Lezgians), while the genetic contribution of Iranian peoples and Turkic tribes appears to be more minor than was initially expected.[2] Azeri's in Iran have been shown to cluster more with other Iranic peoples) These results may indicate a strong indigenous origin for the people of the Republic of Azerbaijan and links to their immediate neighbors of the Caucasus. During Median and Persian rule, many Albanians adopted Zoroastrianism and then switched to Christianity prior to coming of Muslim Arabs and more importantly Muslim Turks. The Turkic tribes are believed to have arrived as small bands of ghazis whose conquests led to the Turkification of the population as largely native Caucasian and Iranian tribes adopted the Turkish language of the Oghuz and converted to Islam over a period of several hundred years.

After more than 80 years of colonization under the Russian empire, brief period of independence came in 1918, when the first democratic, Turkic-speaking republic, and the earliest secular state in an Islamic land was established, known as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The state was invaded by Soviet forces in 1920, and remained under Soviet rule until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Ancient history

Gold clothing appliqué, showing two Scythian archers, 400-350 BCE. British Museum.

The cave of Azykh in the territory of the Fizuli district in the Republic of Azerbaijan is considered to be the site of one of the most ancient proto-human habitations in Eurasia. Remnants of the pre-Acheulean culture were found in the lowest layers of the Azykh cave. This culture is one of the oldest, and in many ways similar to the Olduvai culture in Tanzania, and Walloon culture in the southeast of France.

The Paleolithic (Homo Sapiens) period in what is now Azerbaijan is represented by finds at Aveidag, Taglar, Damjily, Yatagery, Dash Salakhly and some other sites. Carved drawings etched on rocks in Qobustan, south of Baku, demonstrate scenes of hunting, fishing, labor and dancing, and are dated to the Mesolithic period. The Neolithic period (ca. 6th - 4th millennia BC) was the period of transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Many Neolithic settlements have been discovered in Azerbaijan, and carbon-dated artifacts show that during this period, people built homes, made copper weapons, and were familiar with irrigated agriculture.

The influence of ancient peoples and civilizations including the Sumerians and Elamites came to a crossroads in the territory of Azerbaijan, and their ancient and distinct cultures still symbolize parts of Azerbaijan's modern character. A variety of Caucasian peoples appear to be the earliest inhabitants of the South Caucasus with the notable Caucasian Albanians being their most prominently known representative.

In the 8th century BC, the semi-nomadic Cimmerians and Scythians settled in the territory of kingdom of Mannai. The Assyrians also had a civilization that flourished to the west of Lake Urmia in the centuries prior to creation of Media and Albania. Most of the ancient documents and inscriptions used for historical analysis of the area come from the Assyrians and from the kingdom of Urartu. In dealing with the history of Azerbaijan, most western scholars refer to Greek, Arab, Roman, and Persian sources.

Albania

Caucasian Albanians are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Azerbaijan. Early invaders included the Scythians in the ninth century BCE. The South Caucasus was eventually conquered by the Achaemenids around 550 BCE. During this period, Zoroastrianism spread in Azerbaijan. The Achaemenids in turn were defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. Following the decline of the Seleucids in Persia in 247 BCE, an Armenian Kingdom exercised control over parts of Azerbaijan between 190 BCE to 428 CE. Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the 1st century BCE and largely remained independent until the Sassanids made the kingdom a vassal state in 252 CE. Caucasian Albania's ruler, King Urnayr, officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century CE, and Albania would remain a Christian state until the 8th century. Sassanid control ended with their defeat by Muslim Arabs in 642 CE.

Median Empire.

The First Persian Empire to the conquests of Alexander the Great and the Greeks

Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent.

Following the overthrow of the Median Empire, all of what is today Azerbaijan was invaded by the Persian king Cyrus in the 6th century BCE. This earliest Persian Empire had a profound impact upon local population as the religion of Zoroastrianism became ascendant as did various early Persian cultural influences. Many of the local peoples of Caucasian Albania came to be known as fire worshipers, which may be a sign of their Zoroastrian faith.

This empire was also quite short-lived and was conquered barely two centuries later by Alexander the Great and led to the rise of Hellenistic culture throughout the former Persian Empire. The Seleucid Greeks inherited the Caucasus following Alexander's death in 323 BCE, but were ultimately beset by pressures from Rome, secessionist Greeks in Bactria, and most adversely the Parthians (Parni), another nomadic Iranian tribe from Central Asia, which made serious inroads into the northern eastern Seleucid domains from the late 4th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE and this ultimately allowed local Caucasian tribes to establish an independent kingdom for the first time since the Median invasion.

Independent Albania, Roman-Parthian rivalry, and Sassinian conquest

File:Shapur i.jpg

A coin of the Sassinian Emperor Shapur I who fought the Romans for possession of the Caucasus

File:Gobustan Rome.jpg

A Roman inscription found in Gobustan: "Emperor Domitianus, the Blessed Caesar Germanicus. Livius Maximus, Legio XII Fulminata" (from shortened Latin)

Main articles: Caucasian Albania and Albania (satrapy)

This Albanian kingdom coalesced around a native Caucasian identity and a Zoroastrian religious background to forge a unique state in a region of vast empire-states. Barely a century past however before the neighboring Armenians subjugated Albania from 95 to 67 BCE as a part of Tigranes the Great's short lived Empire, following the fall of the Hellenistic kingdoms. This state did not last as the Romans and Parthians began to expand their domains, corresponding to most of Albania coming under the domination of Roman legions under Pompey and the south being controlled by the Parthians. A rock carving of what is believed to be the eastern-most Roman inscription survives just southwest of Baku at the site of Gobustan. It is incsribed by Legio XII Fulminata at the time of emperor Domitian. The areas north of the Araks river however remained an independent Albanian state for decades prior to the 1st millennium CE. The now client-state of Armenia again exerted control over much of Albania under the banner of Rome as the coast of Caspian came under Armenian-Roman control from the late 1st century until 387 when the Sassinian Empire of Persia established its dominance in the region. During this early period, native Caucasian tribes probably remained the most numerous along with large minorities of Armenian and Scythian groups.

When Christianity arrived in the Caucasus in the 4th century CE, the main religion was Zoroastrianism and the population included, in addition to the local Albanian majority, Armenians, Iberian Georgians, and Scythians. The Southern Caucasus came under the Caucasian Albanians, Armenians, and Iberians of Georgia which had been converted to Christianity by the 5th century. Despite numerous conquests by the Sassanids and Byzantines, a small independent Albanian state remained in the region until the 9th century.

Origins of the name Azerbaijan

The name Azerbaijan is believed to be derived from Atrupatan or "Atropatena" (in its Greek form). Atrupat (Atropates) was a satrap (governor) of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, who gained the trust of Alexander the Great and was awarded the territory of Iranian Azerbaijan as his semi-independent domain. His dynasty ruled over the principality of Atropatene for next two centuries. Hence, Atrupatan, later "Media Atrupatan" or Atropatena, the region stretching north and south of the Aras river, is believed to be named after Atrupat.

Another hypothesis suggests that the word Azerbaijan derives from Persian Azar-Baygan which literally means protector of fire (Azar for fire, and Baygan for protector) that may refer to fire temples of Zoroastrian belief in Pre-Islamic Iran. The word "Azarbaygan" has been arabicized into Azarbaijan or Azerbaijan after Islamic conquest. Muslim Arabs referred to the region as "Adarbadjan" as early as IX century.

Pre-Islamic Eurasian nomads

The successive migration and settlement of Eurasian and Central Asian nomads continued to be a familiar pattern in the history of the Caucasus since ancient times, from the era of Sassanid-Persian empire to emergence of Azerbaijani Turks by the 11th century CE. In particular, groups of Huns, Khazars, Bulgars, Barsils, Sabirs, Göktürks, and Kumyks had been some of the Turkic people who invaded Azerbaijan over the centuries and helped shape its pre-Islamic past, however, they did not make permanent settlements. These Turkic tribes largely vanished into the much larger native Caucasian populations around them and have left few traces of their coming. This was not the case however with the Oghuz Turks who arrived in Azerbaijan from what is today Turkmenistan in significantly larger numbers than previous Turkic invaders. Although, these Turkic tribes probably never outnumbered local Caucasian Albanians, they did convert them to Islam and the rule of the Oghuz Turks eventually transferred their language to the local population in ways similar to the Magyars in Hungary and numerous other instances of cultural assimilation. Modern Azeris place great emphasis upon their partial Turkic forebears as the modern eight-pin star in the current Azerbaijani flag represents the aforementioned eight Turkic tribes.

Many historians rely upon this historical record in order to understand the cultural transformation of pre-Turkic Azerbaijan into a Turkic-speaking region. For example, the historian Ashurbeyli in History of Azerbaijan writes that in Azerbaijan, "since antiquity there were incursions of Turkic groups from the beginning of our era which increased in the 5th to the 7th and the 9th to the 11th centuries," and also states that in the pre-Islamic period, there were elements of Caucasian and Indo-European tribes in the area as well.

According to native Caucasian Albanian historian Moisey Kalankatu, in the period between 191-200 CE, hordes of Barsil and Khazar Turks crossed the Kura river. Further accounts of Turkic migration are related by Persian historian Tabari, as he describes numerous incursions into Azerbaijan by earlier Ural-Altaic tribes (Huns and Khazars) that occurred in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. Tabari also states that by the mid-6th century, there was a significant Turkic presence in Azerbaijan. Kalankatly also states that in the year 629 AD, the army of the Göktürks as well as a series of Khazar Turkic tribes entered Azerbaijan and declared the land to be "eternal possession" of Turks, however were driven out by Yazdegerd III. Byzantine sources of the mid 6th century refer to the "settlement of Khazar Turks" on the left bank of the Kura river, and Moisey Kalankatu, referred to a "Hun state" on the left bank of the Kura River in the 7th century.

These accounts of Turkic migration continue, according to the 7th century work of the Arab historian Ubeid ibn Shariyya al-Jurhumi, who explains that the Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiyah I (661-680) was informed that Azerbaijan "has long been a land of Turks. Having gathered over there, they have mixed with one another and become integrated." The Arab name of Azerbaijan was Bilad Al Qybchaq, which literally means the land of Kypchaks. Thus there are many indications that the Turks, although not necessarily of the Oghuz group, were a significant presence in what became Azerbaijan by the 10th and 11th centuries, even prior to Seljuk conquest. It must also be noted that the famous "Book of Dede Korkut" - the epic of the Oghuz Turks - was written in the 6th and 7th centuries, and compiled in 13 century.

Ultimately, the Turkic groups more than likely either vanished into the larger Caucasian population over time in Azerbaijan or remained somewhat autonomous and ruled the region until the coming of the Oghuz Turks. The Oghuz Turks, simply by way of language, culture and religion, appear to have made the greatest contribution to the modern ethnic identity of Azerbaijan by Turkifying the local Caucasian majority and assimilating the remnants of earlier Turkic and smaller Iranian tribes to form the nationality of modern Azerbaijanis.

Islamic period

The Age of the Caliphs.

Main article: Caliphate

Muslim Arabs defeated the Sassanids and Byzantines as they marched into the Caucasus region. The Arabs made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by Prince Javanshir, surrendered in 667. Between the 9th and 10th centuries, Arab authors began to refer to the region between the Kura and Aras rivers as Arran. During this time, Arabs from Basra and Kufa came to Azerbaijan and seized lands that the indigenous peoples had abandoned; the Arabs became a land-owning elite. Despite pockets of continued resistance, the majority of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. Later on in the 10th and 11th centuries, Kurdish dynasties of Shaddadid and Rawadid ruled parts of Azerbaijan.

Seljuqs and successor states

Main article: Seljuq dynasty

The Seljuq period of Azerbaijan's history was possibly even more pivotal than the Arab conquest as it helped shape the ethno-linguistic nationality of the modern Azerbaijani Turks.

After decline of Abbasid Khalifate, the territory of Azerbaijan was under the sway of numerous dynasties such as the Salarids, Sajids, Shaddadids, Rawadids and Buyids. However at the beginning of the 11th century, the territory was gradually seized by waves of Oghuz Turkic tribes emanating from Central Asia. The first of these Turkic dynasties was the Ghaznavids from northern Afghanistan, who took over part of Azerbaijan by 1030. They were followed by the Seljuqs, a western branch of the Oghuz who conquered all of Iran and the Caucasus and pressed on to Iraq where they overthrew the Buyids in Baghdad in 1055.

The Seljuqs became the main rulers of a vast empire that included all of Iran, Iraq, and Azerbaijan until the end of 12th century. During the Seljuq period, the influential vizier of the Seljuq sultans, Nizam ul-Mulk (a noted Persian scholar and administrator) is noted for having helped introduce numerous educational and bureaucratic reforms. His death in 1092 marked the beginning of the decline of the once well-organized Seljuq state that further deteriorated following the death of Sultan Ahmad Sanjar in 1153.

Locally, Seljuq possessions were ruled by Atabegs, who were technically vassals of the Seljuq sultans, but sometimes became de facto rulers themselves. The title of Atabeg was common during the Seljuq rule of the Middle East starting in the 12th century. Under their rule from the end of 12th to early 13th centuries, Azerbaijan emerged as an important cultural center of the Turkic people. Palaces of the Atabeg Eldegizids (eldeniz) and the Shirvanshahs hosted distinguished people of the time, many of whom were outstanding Muslim artisans and scientists. The most famous of the Atabeg rulers was Shams al-din Eldeqiz (Eldeniz).

Under Seljuqs, great progress was achieved in different sciences and philosophy by Iranians like Bahmanyar, Khatib Tabrizi, Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi and others. Persian poets such as Nizami Ganjavi and Khaqani Shirvani, who lived in this region, epitomize the highest point in refined medieval Persian literature. In addition, the region experience a building boom and the unique of architecture of the Seljuq period is epitomized by the fortress walls, mosques, schools, mausoleums, and bridges of Baku, Ganja and Absheron which were built during the 12th century.

In 1225, Jalaleddin Kharazmshah put an end to the Atabeg rule.

The end of Mongol rule and the Black Sheep-White Sheep rivalry

The last Il-khanid ruler, Abu Sa'id, died without an heir which led to the Ilkhan state's disintegration into small sultanates. The next state in the territory of Azerbaijan, in the 1330s, was that of the Jalayirids, who ruled Iraq, western Persia, and most of Azerbaijan. The Jalayirid Sultanate lasted about fifty years, until it was disrupted by Tamerlane's conquests and the revolts of the Kara Koyunlu or 'Black Sheep Turks'.

The first Jalayirid ruler was Hasan Buzurg (d. 1356) who ascended the throne in Tabriz in 1337. His son Shaikh Uvais defeated his most serious potential rivals, the Chobanids (descendants of Amir Coban (Chobanids)) to consolidate his rule. He reigned over Azerbaijan from 1360 to 1374 during a period of peace and stability. After the rule of the weak Sultan Husain, the Jalayirid state declined.

Tamerlane (Amir Timur) launched a devastating invasion of Azerbaijan in 1380s, and temporarily incorporated Azerbaijan into his vast domain that spanned much of Eurasia. The Shirvanshah state under Shirvanshah Ibrahim I were also vassals of Timur and assisted Timur in his war with the Mongol ruler Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde. Azerbaijan experienced social unrest and religious strife during this period due to sectarian conflict initiated by Hurufi, Bektashi and other movements.

Following Timur's death in 1405, his fourth son Shah-Rukh came to power and reigned until 1446. To the west of Shah-Rukh's domain two new rival Turkic states emerged - the Kara Koyunlu based around Lake Van and the Ak Koyunlu (or White Sheep Turks) centered around Diyarbakır. Initially, it was the Kara Koyunlu who were ascendant when their chief Kara Yusuf overcame Sultan Ahmad, the last of Jalayirids, and conquered South of Azerbaijan in 1410, establishing his capital at Tabriz. Under Jahan-Shah, the Kara Koyunlu expanded their territory into central Iran and as far east as Khurasan. Later, however, the Ak Koyunlu came into greater prominence under Uzun Hasan, overcoming Jahan-Shah and the Qara Qoyunlu in 1468. Uzun Hasan ruled all of Iran, Azerbaijan and Iraq until his death in 1478. Both Ak Koyunlu and Kara Koyunlu, continued the Timurid tradition of generous patrons of literature, poetry and the arts as the renowned Islamic miniature paintings of Tabriz illustrate.

The Shirvanshahs

Turbe (Mausoleum) of Shirvanshahs in Baku. XV century.

Main article: Shirvanshahs

The role of the Shirvanshah state was important in the national development of Azerbaijan. The Shirvanshahs maintained a high degree of autonomy as local rulers and vassals from 861 until 1539, and provided a continuity that lasted longer than any other dynasty in the Islamic world. There are two periods of an independent Shirvan state: first in 12th century, under sultans Manuchehr and Ahsitan who built the stronghold of Baku, and second in 15th century under the Derbendid dynasty. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the Shirvanshahs were vassals of the Mongol and Timurid empires.

The Shirvanshahs Khalilullah I and Farrukh Yassar presided over a highly stable period in the history of the dynasty. The architectural complex of the "Shirvanshah palace" in Baku (that was also a burial site of the dynasty) and the Halwatiyya Sufi Khaneqa were built during the reign of these two rulers in the mid-15th century. The Shirvanshah rulers were more or less Orthodox Sunni, and thus opposed the heterodox Shi'ism of the Safavid Sufi order. In 1462 Sheykh Junayd, the leader of Safavids was killed in battle against Shirvanishans, near town of Khachmaz - an event that shaped subsequent Safavid actions leading to a new phase in the history of Azerbaijan.

Safavids and the rise of Shi'ism

Main article: Safavids

Shah Abbas I of Safavid at a banquet
Detail from a ceiling fresco; Chehel Sotoun palace; Isfahan

The Safavid (Safaviyeh) were a Sufi religious order formed in 1330s by Sheikh Safi Al-Din (1252–1334), after whom it was eponymously named.

This Sufi order openly converted to the heterodox branch of twelver Shi'ism by the end of the 15th century. Some Safavid followers, most notably the Qizilbash Turks, believed in the mystical and esoteric nature of their rulers and their relationship to the house of Ali, and thus, were zealously predisposed to fight for them. The Safavid rulers claimed to be descended from Ali himself and his wife Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, through the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim. Qizilbash numbers increased by the 1500s and their generals were able to wage a successful war against the Ak Koyunlu state and capture Tabriz.

The Safavids, lead by Ismail I, expanded their base, sacking Baku in 1501 and persecuting the Shirvanshahs.

During the reign of Ismail I and his son Tahmasp, Shia Islam was imposed upon the formerly Sunni population of Iran and Azerbaijan. Imposition of Shi'ism was especially harsh in Shirvan, where a large Sunni population was massacred. Iran became a feudal theocracy during this period and the Shah was held to be the divinely ordained head of state and religion. During this period, the Qizilbashi chiefs were designated wakils (or legal administrators) with offices in charge of provincial administration and the class of Shia Islamic Ulema was created.

The wars with the Sunni Ottoman Empire continued during the reign of Shah Tahmasp. The important Azeri cites of Shamakha, Ganja and Baku were occupied by Ottomans in the 1580s.

Under the reign of Shah Abbas I (1587 - 1630) the monarchy took on a distinctly Persian national identity that merged with Shi'ism. Abbas I's reign represented the high point of development of the state and he was able to repel the Ottomans and re-capture Azerbaijan and Shirvan in 1603.

Except for Shah Abbas II, the Safavid rulers after Abbas I were often incapable rulers. The end of Abbas II's reign in 1666 marked the beginning of the end of the Safavid dynasty. By 1722 an Afghan army marched across eastern Iran, besieged, and sacked Isfahan and proclaimed a Ghilzai tribesman Mahmud (of the Hotaki Pashtuns) the 'Shah' of Iran. This marked the end of the Safavid dynasty in both Iran and Azerbaijan.

Independent Khanates in the 18th century

While civil conflicts took hold in Iran, most of Azerbaijan was occupied by the Ottomans in the 18th century. Meanwhile, the coastal strip along the Caspian Sea comprising Derbent, Baku and Salyan came under Imperial Russian rule, during the reign of Peter the Great, from 1722 until 1735.

Qajar era painting. Mullahs in the royal presence.

After the collapse of the Safavid empire, Nadir Shah Afshar (Nadir Guli Bey), a former slave who had risen to military leadership within the Afshar Turkoman tribe in Khorasan (a vassal state of the Safavids) came to power. He wrested control over Iran from the Afghans in 1729 and proceeded to go on an ambitious military spree, conquering as far as east as Delhi, but not fortifying his Persian base and exhausted his army. Nadir had effective control under Shah Tahmasp II and then ruled as the Regent of the infant Abbas III, until 1736, when he had himself crowned as Shah. The coronation of Nadir Shah took place in Mugan, in the present territory of Azerbaijan, where the Azeri military and tribal aristocracy gathered.

After Nadir Shah's assassination 10 years later in 1747, Azerbaijan disintegrated. Several Persian ruled independent states called khanates emerged within Azerbaijan and Shirvan. Russian Azerbaijani khanates included Shamakha, Quba Khanate, Ganja, Shaki, Baku Khanate, Talysh, Nakhichevan, and other smaller city-states. They were engaged in constant warfare. The most powerful entity amongst the northern khanates was the Quba Khanate, under the Fath Ali Khan (d 1783). Fath Ali Khan managed to unite most of Shirvan and Aran under his rule and even mounted an expedition to take Tabriz and fought the Zand dynasty. However, Russian and Ottoman intervention and constant internecine strife prevented this.

By 1796, Agha Muhammed Khan Qajar raided and conquered Azerbaijan and Georgia. Some khanates made the fateful decision to ask for Russian help, while other Azeris were content with Qajar rule. However, the Russians, who by this time controlled Georgia, had already subjugated most of the khanates in the Caucasus by 1806. The Qajars responded to these events by declaring war, which continued until 1813 when Russians invaded Tabriz.

Russian Rule

Following their defeat by Russia, Qajar Persia was forced to sign the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, which acknowledged the loss of the territory to Russia. Local khanates were either abolished (like in Baku or Ganja) or accepted Russian patronage. Another Russo-Persian war in 1826-28 resulted in another crushing defeat for the Iranian army. The Russians dictated another final settlement as per the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which resulted in the Qajars of Persia ceding Caucasian territories in 1828. The treaty established the current borders of Azerbaijan and Iran as the rule of local khans ended. In the Russian controlled territories, two provinces were established that later constituted the bulk of the modern Republic - Elisavetpol (Ganja) province in the west, and Shamakha province in the east.

At the beginning of Russian administration, the Tsars did not significantly interfere with local affairs and the migration of the Christian population into Azerbaijan was minimal. As a result of a catastrophic earthquake in 1858, the capital of the eastern province was transferred from Shamakha to Baku which attained greater importance over time.

Oil derricks in Balakhany district. Late 19th century

The discovery and exploitation of petroleum in the 1870s led to a period of unprecedented prosperity and growth in the years prior to World War I but also created huge disparities in wealth between the largely European capitalists and the local Muslim work force. By 1900, the population of Baku increased from 10,000 to roughly 250,000 people as a result of worker migration from all over the Russian Empire, Iran, and other places. The growth of Baku and the progression of an exploitative economy resulted in the emergence of an Azeri nationalist intelligencia that was educated and influenced by European and Ottoman ideas. Influential thinkers like Hasan bey Zardabi, Mirza Fatali Akhundov and later, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Nariman Narimanov and others spurred a nationalist discourse and rallied against poverty, ignorance, extremism and sought reforms in education and the emancipation of the dispossessed classes, including women. The financial support of philanthropist millionaires such as Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev also bolstered the rise of an Azeri bourgeoisie.

Following the disastrous Russo-Japanese war, an economic and political crisis erupted in Baku, starting with a general strike of oil workers in 1904. In 1905, class and ethnic tensions resulted in Muslim-Armenian ethnic rioting during the first Russian Revolution. The Tsarist governments had, in fact, exploited ethnic and religious strife to maintain control in a policy of divide and rule.

The situation improved during 1906-1914, when a limited parliamentary system was introduced in Russia and Muslim MPs from Azerbaijan were actively promoting Azeri interests. In 1911, the pan Turkist and pan Islamist Musavat Party, inspired by the left of center modernizing ideology espoused by Mammed Amin Rasulzade, was formed. Founded clandestinely, the party expanded rapidly in 1917, after the overthrow of the Tsarist regime in Russia. The most essential components of the Musavat ideology were secularism, nationalism, and federalism, or autonomy within a broader political structure. However, the party's right- and left-wings differed on certain issues, most notably land distribution. The leader of the party was the left-leaning Mammed Amin Rasulzade.

After Russia became involved in World War I, social and economic tensions spiked again. The Russian Revolution of 1917 ultimately led to the granting of rights to the local population of Azerbaijan and the granting of self rule, but this autonomy also led to renewed ethnic conflict between Azeris and Armenians.

File:AzerbaijanDemocraticRepublicMap.png

Map of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in 1920. Areas in dark swamp green are under administration of the ADR. Light swamp green areas are disputed between the ADR and the Democratic Republic of Armenia with no clear administration. The yellowish-green color indicates territorites claimed by the ADR, but administered by the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Click on image for more details.

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

Main articles: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Armenian-Azerbaijani war (1918 - 1920)

At the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, an independent republic was proclaimed in Ganja on May 28, 1918 following an abortive attempt to establish a federal Transcaucasian Republic with Armenia and Georgia.This was the first Democratic Republic established in Islamic World. In Baku, however, a coalition of Bolsheviks, Dashnaks and Mensheviks fought against a Turkish-Islamic army led by Nuru Pasha. This coalition known as the "Baku Commune" also inspired or tacitly condoned the massacres of local Muslims by well-armed Dashnak-Armenian forces. This coalition, however, collapsed and was replaced by a British-controlled government known as Central Caspian Dictatorship in July, 1918. British forces under General Dunsterville occupied Baku and helped the mainly Dashnak-Armenian forces to defend the capital. However, Baku fell on September 15, 1918 and an Azeri-Ottoman army entered the capital, causing British forces and much of the Armenian population to flee. The Ottoman Empire, however, capitulated on October 30, 1918 and the British occupational force re-entered Baku.

Azerbaijan was proclaimed a secular republic and its first parliament opened on December 5, 1918. British administration initially did not recognize the Republic but tacitly cooperated with it. By mid-1919 the situation in Azerbaijan had more or less stabilized, and British forces left in August, 1919. However by early 1920, advancing Bolshevik forces, victorious in Russian Civil War, started to pose a great threat to young republic, which also engaged in a conflict with Armenia over the Karabakh enclave.

Azerbaijan received de facto recognition by the Allies as an independent nation in January 1920 at the Versailles Paris Peace Conference. The republic was governed by five cabinets, all formed by a coalition of the Musavat and other parties including the Socialist Bloc, the Independents, the Liberals, the Social-Democratic Party Hummat (or Endeavor) Party and the Conservative Ittihad (Union) Party. The premier in the first three cabinets was Fatali Khan Khoyski; in the last two, Nasib Yusufbayli. The president of the parliament, Alimardan Topchubashev, was recognized as the head of state. In this capacity he represented Azerbaijan at the Versailles Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

Aided by Azeri dissidents in the Republican government, the Red Army invaded Azerbaijan on April 28, 1920. It met with almost no resistance since the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in Karabakh. The same day a Soviet government was formed under Nariman Narimanov. Before the year was over, the same fate had befallen Armenia, and, in March 1921, Georgia as well.

Soviet Azerbaijan

Main article: Azerbaijan SSR

After the peaceful surrender of the national government to Bolshevik forces, Azerbaijan was proclaimed a Soviet Socialist Republic on April 28, 1920. Although, formally an independent state, the Azerbaijan SSR was dependent upon and controlled by the government in Moscow. It was incorporated into the Transcaucasian SFSR along with Armenia and Georgia in March 1922. By an agreement signed in December 1922, the TSFSR became one of the four original republics of the Soviet Union. The TSFSR was dissolved in 1936 and its three regions became separate republics within the USSR.

Like other union republics, Azerbaijan, was affected by Stalin's purges in the 1930s. During this period, sometimes referred to as the "Red Terror", thousands of people were killed, including notable Azeri figures such as Huseyn Javid, Mikail Mushvig, Ruhulla Akhundov, Ayna Sultanova and others. Directing the purges in Azerbaijan was Mir Jafar Baghirov, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, who followed Stalin's orders without question. His special target was the intelligentsia, but he also purged Communist leaders who had sympathized with the opposition or who might have once leaned toward Pan-Turkism or had contacts with revolutionary movements in Iran or Turkey.

File:Soviet-woman-veil.jpg

Under Soviet rule, women in Azerbaijan and other predominately Muslim republics were encouraged to "throw off the veils that imprisoned them." Shown here is a still of a woman doing just that from Dziga Vertov's 1934 propaganda film, Three Songs About Lenin.

During the 1940s, the Azerbaijan SSR supplied much of the Soviet Union's gas and oil during the war with Nazi Germany and was thus a strategically important region. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 reached the Greater Caucasus in July 1942, but the Germans never crossed into the territory of Azerbaijan. Many Azerbaijanis fought well in the ranks of the Soviet Army (about 600-800,000) and Azeri Major-General Azi Aslanov was awarded twice Hero of the Soviet Union. About 400,000 Azeris died in WWII. The Germans also made fruitless efforts to enlist the cooperation of emigre political figures, most notably Mammed Amin Rasulzade. See also: Azerbaijan SSR during the Soviet-German War

Policies of de-Stalinization and improvement after the 1950s led to better education and welfare conditions for most of Azerbaijan. This also coincided with the period of rapid urbanization and industrialization. During this period of change, a new anti-Islamic drive and return to a policy of Russification, under the policy of sblizheniye (reapprochment), was instituted in order to merge all the peoples of the U.S.S.R. into a new monolithic Soviet nation.

In the 1960s, signs of a structural crisis in the Soviet colonial system began to emerge. Azerbaijan's crucial oil industry lost its relative importance in the Soviet economy, partly because of a shift of oil production to other regions of the Soviet Union and partly because of the depletion of known oil resources on land, while offshore production was not deemed cost effective. As a result, Azerbaijan had the lowest rate of growth in productivity and economic output among the Soviet republics, with the exception of Tajikistan. Ethnic tensions, particularly between Armenians and Azerbaijanis began to grow, but violence was suppressed. In an attempt to end the growing structural crisis, the government in Moscow appointed Heidar Aliyev as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in 1969. Aliyev temporarily improved economic conditions and promoted alternative industries to the declining oil industry, such as cotton. He also consolidated the republic's ruling elite, which now consisted almost entirely of ethnic Azeris, thus reverting the previous trends at "reapprochment". In 1982 Aliyev was made a member of the Communist Party's Politburo in Moscow, the highest position ever attained by a Muslim in the former Soviet Union. In 1987, when Perestroika started, he was forced to retire by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reform policies he opposed.

The late 1980s, during the Gorbachov era, were characterized by increasing unrest in the Caucasus, initially over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. A political awakening came in February 1988 with the renewal of the ethnic conflict, which centered on Armenia's demands for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh (Qarabag) with Armenia. Armenians expelled hundreds of thousands of Azeris from Karabakh and Armenia by March 1988, while pogroms of the Armenian population in Baku and Sumgait took place. Russia forced enforced military rule on several occasions but unrest continued to spread.

The ethnic strife revealed the shortcomings of the Communist Party as a champion of national interests, and, in the spirit of glasnost, independent publications and political organizations began to emerge. Of these organizations, by far the most prominent was the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA), which by the fall of 1989 seemed poised to take power from the Communist Party. The PFA soon experienced a split between a conservative-Islamic wing and a moderate wing. The split was followed by an outbreak of anti-Armenian violence in Baku and intervention by Soviet troops.

Unrest culminated in violent confrontation when Soviet troops killed 132 nationalist demonstrators in Baku on January, 20 1990. Azerbaijan declared its independence from the USSR on August 30, 1991, and became part of the Commonwealth of Independent States. By the end of 1991 fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh had escalated into a full scale war, which culminated into a tense cease-fire that has persisted into the 21st century. Although a cease-fire was achieved, the refusal to negotiate by both sides resulted in a stalemate as Armenian troops retained their positions in Karabakh as well as corridors taken from Azerbaijan that connect the enclave to Armenia.

Independent Azerbaijan

Main article: Politics of Azerbaijan

The declaration of independence was followed by the dissolution of the Communist Party, although most of its membership retained their socio-political positions. The last party secretary, Ayaz N. Mutalibov, was elected president of the republic in September 1991, and the Supreme Soviet formally implemented the declaration of independence on October 18. Meanwhile, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh continued despite efforts to negotiate a settlement. Early in 1992, Karabakh's Armenian leadership proclaimed an independent republic. In what was now a full scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Armenians gained the upper hand, with covert assistance from the Russian Army. Major atrocities were committed by both sides, with the Khojaly massacre of Azeri civilians having particular relevance to the Azeri side.

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Former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev was the first Muslim member of the Politburo and is credited with bringing stability to Azerbaijan after its uneasy independence.

Mutalibov's failure to build up an adequate army, that he feared may not remain under his control, brought about the downfall of his government. In March 1992 the supreme court forced him to resign, after the fall of the town of Shusha. New presidential elections were held in June 1992. The former Communists failed to present a viable candidate and Abulfaz Elchibey, the leader of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan(PFA) and former dissident and political prisoner, was elected president with more than 60% of the vote. His program included opposition to Azerbaijan's membership in the CIS, closer relations with Turkey, and a desire for extended links with the Azerbaijanis in Iran.

Heydar Aliyev, who had been prevented from running for president by an age limit of 65, was doing well in Nakhichevan. He had to contend with an Armenian blockade of Nakhichevan. In turn, Armenia suffered when Azerbaijan halted all rail traffic into and out of Armenia, cutting most of its land links with the outside world. The negative economic effects of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict seemed to illustrate the interdependence of the Transcaucasian nations.

Within a year after his election, President Elchibey came to face the same situation that had led to the downfall of Mutalibov. The fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh steadily turned in favor of the Armenians, who seized around one fifth of Azerbaijan's territory, creating more than a million internally displaced persons. A military rebellion against Elchibey broke out in early June 1993 in Ganja under the leadership of Colonel Surat Huseynov. The PFA leadership, found itself without political support as a result of the war's setbacks, a steadily deteriorating economy, and opposition from groups led by Heydar Aliyev. In Baku, Aliyev seized the reigns of power and quickly consolidated his position. A referendum in August deprived Elchibey of his post. On the 3rd of October 1993 a presidential election was held, and Aliyev won overwhelmingly.

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A protestor against Ilham Aliyev's election as President of Azerbaijan. The country's 2003 presidential election was characterized by mass violence and were criticised by foreign observers as being neither free nor fair.

By March 1994, Aliyev was able to get rid of some of his opposition including Surat Huseynov, who was arrested along with other rivals. In 1995, the former military police were accused of plotting a coup and disbanded. Coup plotters were linked to right wing Turkish nationalists. Later, in 1996 Rəsul Quliyev, former speaker of parliament went into self-imposed exile. Thus, by end of 1996, position of Heydar Aliyev as an absolute ruler in Azerbaijan was unquestionable.

As a result of limited reforms and the signing of the so-called "Contract of The Century" in October 1994 (over Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli giant oil field), the economy started to improve due to increased oil exports to the western markets. However, extreme levels of corruption and nepotism in the state system created by Aliyev prevented Azerbaijan from more sustained development, especially in the non-oil sector.

In October 1998, Aliev was re-elected as president for a second term. Weakened opposition accused him of voter fraud, but no widespread international condemnation of the elections followed. His second term in office was characterized by limited reforms, increasing oil production and the dominance of BP as a main foreign oil company in Azerbaijan. In early 1999, a giant Shah Deniz gas field was discovered making Azerbaijan potentially a major gas exporter. A gas export agreement was signed with Turkey by 2003. Work on a long awaited Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline started in 2003. The oil pipeline was completed in 2005 and the gas pipeline in 2006.

Heydar Aliyev became ill and, in April 2003, collapsed on stage and could not return to public life. By summer 2003 he was placed into intensive care in the U.S. where he was pronounced dead on December 12, 2003. In yet another controversial election, his son Ilham Aliyev was elected president. The election was characterized by mass violence and were criticised by foreign observers. Presently, political opposition to the Aliyev administration remains strong. Many are not satisfied with this new dynastical succession and are pushing for a more democratic government.

References

• Altstadt, Audrey. The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity Under Russian Rule (Azerbaijan: Hoover Institution Press, 1992).
• Ashurbeyli, S. "History of Shirvanshahs" Elm 1983, 408 (in Azeri)
• Kalankatu, Moisey (Movses). "The History of Caucasian Albanians. transl by C. Dowsett" London oriental series, vol 8, 1961 (School of Oriental and African Studies, Univ of London)
• At Tabari, Ibn al-Asir (trans by Z. Bunyadov), Baku, Elm, 1983?
• Jamil Hasanli. At the Dawn of the Cold War: The Soviet-American Crisis Over Iranian Azerbaijan, 1941-1946, (Rowman & Littlefield; 409 pages; $75). Discusses the Soviet-backed independence movement in the region and argues that the crisis in 1945-46 was the first event to bring the Soviet Union in conflict with the United States and Britain after the alliance of World War II
• Momen, M. "An Introduction to Shii Islam", 1985, Yale University Press 400 p
• Shaffer, B. Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002).
• Swietochowski, Tadeusz. Russia and Azerbaijan: Borderland in Transition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995).
• Van der Leew, Ch. Azerbaijan: A Quest for Identity: A Short History (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000).
• History of Azerbajan Vol I-III, 1960 Baku (in Russian)

External links

• BBC's Recent history of Azerbaijan
• Virtual Azerbaijan Presents-A history of Azerbaijan
• Global Azeris Network History section
• UNDP Early Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
• US Library of Congress-A Country Study of Azerbaijan
• List of rulers for Azerbaijan
• International Magazine - best source of english language information on Azerbaijan. contains section on History of Azerbaijan