Azerbaijanis

This article is about the ethnic group called Azeris. For the inhabitants of Azerbaijan (the Azerbaijanis), see demographics of Azerbaijan.

Azeris

File:Azerbaijanis.jpg
Regions with significant populations
Iran:   16-23.5 million Azerbaijan:    7,800,000 Turkey:    800,000 [1] Russia:    622,000 (2002 census)[2] Georgia:    340,000 United States:    280,000 Kazakhstan:    80,000 (1999 census)[3] Germany:    55,000 Ukraine:    46,000 (2001 census)[4] Canada:    1,445 2001 census Other:    30,000
Languages
Azerbaijani
Religion
Shi'a Islam, Sunni Islam, Atheism, Agnosticism
Related ethnic groups
Other Turkic peoples Oghuz Turks Peoples of the Caucasus Persian people [5]

Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycanlılar) or simply Azeris (Azeriler), are an ethnic group numbering ca. 30 million worldwide. The majority, around 16-23 million (estimates vary) [6] [7], live in Iran. The rest, around 8 million, live in the Republic of Azerbaijan. There are also sizeable communities in Turkey, Georgia, Russia, USA, Canada, and Germany. The overwhelming majority are Shi'a Muslims.

Origins

Much has been debated about the ethnic, cultural and linguistic origin of the Azerbaijani (or Azeri) people. Ultimately, the 'debate' over the origins of the Azerbaijani people has to do with historic claims over their territory as well as 20th century notions of nationalism. The debate basically involves three conflicting viewpoints: whether the Azeris are of a Turkic background, ultimately from Central Asia; or are an Iranian people who simply changed their language following Turkic invasions; or are indigenous to the Caucasus and simply adopted the Turkic language and converted to Islam. Thus, determining whether a Turkic, Iranic (or Iranian), or Caucasian background defines the Azeris also has much to do with the historical views of Azeri neighbors as well.

This historical debate aside, genetic analysis of mtDNA, have shown that Azerbaijanians are more closely related genetically to their geographic neighbors in the Caucasus and not to their linguistic neighbors elsewhere. In addition, studies have demonstrated that Caucasian populations are genetically intermediate between European and Near Eastern populations, but that they are more closely related to European than to Near Eastern populations. By contrast the analysis of Y-chromosome shows a closer genetic relationship with the Near East than with Europe. These studies suffer from numerous drawbacks and any conclusion must be drawn cautiously. The analysis have been done only on a very limited set of genes and also no sample have been taken from Iran where most of Azerbaijanis live. Analyses of autosomal chromosomes are needed to verify these controversial hypotheses. [8]

A fair number of historians contend that the nation of Azerbaijanis are descendants of ancient Iranian peoples such as the Medes and/or Scythians. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Azeris "are of mixed ethnic origin, the oldest element deriving from the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly from the Medians of northern Persia." [9] Other historians believe that the Azeris are largely descended from various groups of Turkic tribes, in particular the Oghuz Turks, but also, other Altaic invaders including the Huns, Gokturks, Khazars, Barsils, Kurtugurs, Saragurs, Kipchaks and others. Still others believe that the Azeris are native to the Caucasus and are actually the descendants of the Albanians of the Caucasus, whose language may have been akin to the Udi language, which is part of the Northeast Caucasian family of languages that includes Abkhazian among others. Adherants to this view believe that the earlier inhabitants of what is today Azerbaijan mingled with and absorbed various cultural traits from smaller groups of ruling elites of Iranic and Turkic background over time, as the population was Turkified in the linguistic sense and adopted many Persian cultural elements including Zoroastrianism and the Shi'a sect of Islam.

Turkic background examined

Turkic invaders have been coming to Azerbaijan for centuries, but it remains unclear if all or most settled and remained in Azerbaijan (as opposed to other parts of the Caucasus and Southwest Asia) or simply came and went over the ages, until one group, the Oghuz remained in large enough numbers to alter the region. Morphological factors of the Azeri people in isolated rural areas appears quite similar to some nearby Turkic peoples, especially with regards to the Turkmen and Turks of Turkey.

According to Caucasus Albanian historian Moses Kalankatly, in the period between 191-200 CE, hordes of Barsil and Khazar Turks crossed the Kura river into what is today known as Azerbaijan.

Other noted historians include Tabari, who describes in detail various incursions into Azerbaijan by Ural-Altaic tribes (Huns and Khazars) in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. Tabari also states that by the mid-6th century, there was a significant Turkish presence in Azerbaijan and other adjacent regions.

Kalankatly also states that in the year 629, the army of the Gokturks as well as a series Khazar Turkic tribes entered Azerbaijan and declared the land to be the "eternal possession" of the Turks.

Byzantine sources of the mid-6th century refer to the "settlement of Khazar Turks" in the left bank of the Kura river and Kalankatly makes reference to a "Hun state" on the left bank of the Kura River in the 7th century.

According to Professor Peter B. Golden, "In the course of the seventh century, the two major tribal unions emerged in Azerbaijan under the Turk banner: the Khazars and the Bulgars...the Khazars formed the bulk of the Turk forces used by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-640) in his counter-offensive against the Sasanids (rulers) in Azerbaijan".

A pre-Islamic Turkic presence in Azerbaijan is evident in literature after the Islamic conquest of the region, in an era that was famous for its historical, geographical and scientific analyzations of the world by Muslim scholars. According to the 7th century work of Ubeid ibn Shariyya al-Jurhumi, the Muslim Caliph Mueviyyen (661-680) was told that Azerbaijan "has long been a land of Turks. Having gathered over there, they have mixed with one another and become integrated."

It must also be noted that the famous "Book of Dede Korkut" which is the epic of the Oghuz Turks (considered by Azeris to be their primary ancestors) was written in central-Asia in the 6th and 7th centuries.

What should be noted is that the demographics and social conditions are difficult to ascertain under 'Turkic' rule. Many question remain difficult to answer including whether the Turkic tribes replaced the peoples who lived in Azerbaijan before their arrival or simply mixed with them?

Possible Iranian origins

Life for rural Azeris of Iran closely resembles that of Persians and in large cities such as Tabriz, Urmia and Ardabil, many Azeris resemble the Iranian ethnic groups. Nearly all the of the vocabulary and habits related to settled life in large cities of Iranian Azerbaijan such as Tabriz, Urmia and Ardabil are still the original Iranian (Tatic) vocabulary and habits which have survived the linguistic Turkification of the region. Other qualities that link the Azeris to the Persians include the word Azerbaijan which is attested to have been derived from the Persian Azar-padegan and means The Land of the Protector of Fire. Alternatively, the name is believed to have come from Atropates, an Iranic leader who ruled Azerbaijan during the period of Alexander of Macedon's defeat of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The word Atropates itself means the "Protector of Fire".

From a historical perspective, according to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica "the people of the Mada (Mata), the Medes, appear in history first in 836 B.C., when the Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser II in his wars against the tribes of the Zagros received the tribute of the Amadai...

Herodotus gives a list of six Median tribes among them, the Paraetaceni...names in the Assyrian inscriptions prove that the tribes in the Zagros and the northern parts of Media [Azerbaijan] were Iranian but an aboriginal population...perhaps connected with the numerous tribes of the Caucasus (northern Azerbaijan, Albania)...Gelae, Tapuri, Cadusii, Amardi, Utii and other tribes in northern Media (Azerbaijan) and on the shores of the Caspian were not Iranians. With them Polybius, Strabo and Pliny mention the Anariaci, whom they consider as a particular tribe; but in reality their name, the Non-Aryans, is the comprehensive designation of all these small tribes..."

A Caucasian background rediscovered

Many modern Azeris, not unlike the Turks of Turkey, have, during their journey into discovering their roots, come across forgotten possible ancestors. As many modern Turkish historians looked to the possibility that groups such as the Hittites may have contributed significantly to the modern Turks, many Azeris have also looked to ancient peoples in order to better under their own background. In the case of the Azeris, there is some evidence that, in-spite of repeated invasions and migrations, an aboriginal element survived and thrived in what is today Azerbaijan even as the language and religions changed over time. Academic Audrey L. Alstadt notes in her book, The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity under Russian Rule, that many modern Azeris regard both the Oghuz Turks and the Albanians of the Caucasus as their ancestors, in particular as there is no political rivalry with either an extinct language group or the Oghuz who have undoubtedly bequeathed their language to the Azeris.[10] Regardless, considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians, including their language and history in the region as well as their conversion to Christianity. In addition, some believe that the Udi language, which is a Caucasian language is a remnant of the ancient Albanians who were assimilated into various invading cultures over time. Lastly, ethnic animosity and rivalry with many of their neighbors has possibly prevented the modern Azeris from examining possible ties to their immediate neighbors. What remains difficult to determine is the overall number of Turkic invaders which may not have been enough to alter the population dramatically in the genetic sense.

Genetic evidence

The population of Azerbaijan is undoubtedly diverse, but there appear to be distinct traits that have been discovered through genetic testing that may reveal much about the background of the modern Azerbaijanis. Recent genetic tests have revealed that the Azeris cluster more with other peoples of the Caucasus than with other regional groupings.[11] This is not the end of the diversity found amongst the Azeris as the peoples of the Caucasus also show a great deal of similarity with the Iranian peoples as well, but to a degree that is somewhat reduced in comparison to their relationship with fellow Caucasian peoples, but greater than their relationship with Europeans north of the Caucasus.[12][13] In addition, in-spite of their Turkic linguistic background, the Azeris, like the Turks of Turkey, do not share most of their genetic background with Central Asian populations, although there is evidence of genetic admixture derived from Central Asian Turkic groups, in particular the Turkmen found across the Caspian Sea, that is higher than that of their neighbors including the Georgians, Armenians, and Persians. Other tests indicate that the Azeris not only closely resemble their Caucasian neighbors, but also display many genetic markers found in European populations.[14] The preliminary conclusion from the series of genetic testing shows the Azeris to be a somewhat mixed population with relationships, in order of greatest similarity, mainly with the Caucasus followed by lesser similarities with Europeans, Iranian peoples, and Turkic peoples.

Genetic analysis of mtDNA, have shown that Azerbaijanians are more closely related genetically to their geographic neighbors in the Caucasus and not to their linguistic neighbors elsewhere. In addition, studies have demonstrated that Caucasian populations are genetically intermediate between European and Near Eastern populations, but that they are more closely related to European than to Near Eastern populations. By contrast the analysis of Y-chromosome shows a closer genetic relationship with the Near East than with Europe. These studies suffer from numerous drawbacks and any conclusion must be drawn cautiously. The analysis have been done only on a very limited set of genes and also no sample have been taken from Iran where most of Azerbaijanis live. Analyses of autosomal chromosomes and a wider sampling are needed to verify these controversial hypotheses. [15].

Language

Main article: Azerbaijani language

The Azerbaijanis speak Azerbaijani (sometimes called Azerbaijani Turkish or Azeri), a Turkic language which is mutually intelligible with Turkish, with minor variations in accent. Some other Turkic languages include Turkmen (see also Turkic peoples), Yakut and Uzbek. The standard Azerbaijani language developed from the 10th century onwards.

Prior to the 10th century, there were various Turkish dialects spoken across the region.

The modern written language of the Azerbaijanis developed from the 10th to the 13th centuries, after the Oghuz Turkic migrations and the decline of the Oghuz Yabgu state in Central Asia. This is the timespan that is called Azerbaijan's cultural and linguistic "golden age."

Demographics

There are about total 23 to 40 million Azerbaijanis in the world, but census figures are incomplete.

Since early 20th century successive Iraninan governments, have avoided publishing any statistics on ethnics groups. This policy presents difficulty in providing any statistics on distribution and size of ethnicity in Iran. The population size of Turkic speaking ethnic groups, are estimated to be much higher in Iran than official publications.

Here is the population size of Azeri speakers in Azerbaijan and Iran, according to two major source. Their estimation differs from 23,4 to 30 million within two main countries. This total does not include the Azeri speakers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Georgia, Dagestan and other smaller pockets within the Middle East and Russian Federation. [16] adds 864,000 for the speakers out of Iran and Republics of Azerbaijan

Source	Total Population |	% Azeri |	Number of Speakers
	(Where given)
Facts Book on Azerbaijan	7,911,974	%90.6	7,168,248
Facts Book on Iran	68,017,860	%24	16,324,286
			__________
		Total	23,492,534
Ethnologue on Azerbaijan			6,069,453
Ethnologue on Iran			23,500,000
			__________
		Total	29,569,453

Regions where Azerbaijani is spoken by significant group of people:

• Azerbaijani (North Dialect)1

Azerbaijan, and southern Dagestan, along the Caspian coast in the southern Caucasus Mountains. Also spoken in Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia (Asia), Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

• Azerbaijani (South Dialect) 2

East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, Ardebil, Zanjan, and part of Markazi provinces. Many in districts of Tehran. Some Azerbaijani-speaking groups are in Fars Province and other parts of Iran. Also spoken in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Turkey (Asia), USA.

It is estimated that there are 16 to 23 million Azerbaijanis in Iran , 8 million in the Republic of Azerbaijan, 600,000 to 2.16 million in Russia, possibly over one million in the U.S., between 50 and 500 thousand in each of Ukraine and Germany, more than 800 thousand in Turkey, 400 thousand in Georgia, and 78.3 thousand to 200 thousand in Kazakhstan. The United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan also have some populations of Azerbaijanis living there.

More than 90% of Azerbaijanis are Shia Muslims, but there are also Sunni Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Christians and Bahá'ís. In recent years there have been many conversions to Sunni Islam.

References

• Altstadt, Audrey. The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity under Russian Rule (Hoover Institution Press 1992).
• Golden, Peter B. An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (Otto Harrasowitz 1992).

Online references

• A Genetic Landscape Reshaped by Recent Events: Y-Chromosomal Insights into Central Asia, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 71:466-482, 2002
• Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 74:827-845, 2004
• Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Variation in the Caucasus, Annals of Human Genetics, Volume 68, Page 205, May 2004
• Testing hypotheses of language replacement in the Caucasus: evidence from the Y-chromosome, Hum Genet (2003) 112, 255–261

See also

• Culture of Azerbaijan
• Demographics of Iran
• Demographics of Azerbaijan
• History of Azerbaijan
• Languages of Azerbaijan