Origin of the Azerbaijanis

The Iranian origin of the Azerbaijanis defines a link between present-day Azerbaijanis and their pre-Turkification Iranian past and mostly applies to Iranian Azeris. It is supported by historical accounts, by the existence of the Old Azari language, present day place names, cultural similarities between Iranian peoples and Azerbaijanis, and archaeological evidence. It is also favored by notable scholars and sources, such as Vladimir Minorsky, Richard Frye, Xavier De Planhol, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Grand Dictionnaire Encyclopedique Larousse, and World Book Encyclopedia.

Historical accounts and the ancient Azari language

See also: Old Azari language

The language of pre-Turkic Iranian Azerbaijan was a dialect of Persian. Strabo mentions that the people of Iranian Azarbaijan as Iranians who spoke Persian. Also, medieval historians and scholars also record that the language of the region, as well as its people, were Iranians who spoke an Iranian language. Al-Istakhri, Al-Masudi, Ibn al-Nadim, Tabari, Ibn Hawqal, Istakhri, Moqaddasi, Yaghubi, Masudi, Mostowfi Qazvini, and Al-Khwarizmi.

Ibn al-Nadim, in his famous book Kitab al-Fihrist (Arabic: الفهرست), mentions that all the Median and Persian lands of antiquity (including what is today known as the Republic of Azerbaijan) spoke one language. Al-Khwarizmi mentions it in chapter 6, vol. 6 of his book Mafātīh al-ˤUlūm (مفاتيح العلوم). Tabari in 849 also mentions that poets in Maragheh recited Pahlavi (Old Persian) poetry. Some Azerbaijani poets however, such as Qatran Tabrizi, used the word "Persian" and "Pahlavi" interchangeably to describe their native language. Azari researcher Ahmad Kasravi Tabrizi in his book "The ancient tongue of Azarbaygan" (زبان باستان آذربایگان) supports this and reports that the medieval historian Yaqut al-Hamawi used the phrase Al-Ajam ol-Azariyah ("The Azari Iranian") in his books Mo'ajjem al-Udabā and Mo'jem al-Baladān. In other sources such as Surat al-Ardh (صورة الأرض) by Ibn Hawqal, Ahsan al-Taqāsim by Moqaddasi, and Al-Masālik wa al-Mamālik by Istakhri, people in Azerbaijan are recorded to be speaking Iranian languages. Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa identifies the Iranian languages as such:

"The Iranian languages are Fahlavi (Pahlavi), Dari, Khuzi, Persian, and Seryani. But Fahlavi comes from the word Fahleh. And Fahleh is a name that refers to 5 regions: Isfahan, Ray, Hamedan, Mah-Nahavand, and Azerbaijan."

Even after the Turkic invasions and subsequent Turkification of the area, which lasted several centuries, travelers and scholars cited Persian being used up to the 17th century in Tabriz. Even the Ottoman Turkish explorer Evliya Çelebi (1611–1682) mentions this in his Seyahatname. He also reports that the elite and learned people of Nakhichevan and Maragheh spoke Pahlavi, during his tours of the region. Additionally, the old Pahlavi based language of Azerbaijan is now extinct.

Also, the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, published in 1890, writes that Azeri's are only linguistically Turkic and Iranians by race:

some scholars (Yadrintsev, Kharuzin, Shantr) suggested to change the terminology of some Turko-Tatar people, who somatically don’t have much in common with Turks, for instance, to call Aderbaijani Tatars (Iranians by race) Aderbaijans.

The book Man, published in 1901, comes to the same conclusion:

It does not, of course, follow that such tribes may not be mainly Iranian in blood, as the Turkish-speaking Azerbaijani Tatars have been shown to be, but the persistence of foreign languages among tribal communities is not a factor to be neglected.

Encyclopaedia Iranica also states:

The Turkish speakers of Azerbaijan (q.v.) are mainly descended from the earlier Iranian speakers, several pockets of whom still exist in the region.

Moreover, according to Grand Dictionnaire Encyclopedique Larousse:

Azeris are descendants of older Iranophone inhabitants of the Eastern Transcaucasia, turkicized since 11th century.

Place names, culture, and archaeological evidence

See also: List of geographic names of Iranian origin

The name Baku is widely believed to be derived from the old Persian names of the city Badkube, meaning "city where the wind blows", or Baghkuh, meaning "Mount of God".

Many place names in present day Azerbaijan and Iranian Azarbaijan have Persian roots. Tabriz, Baku, Absheron, Ganja, and the country (as well as people) name itself Azerbaijan, are just a few examples. It should also be noted that many of the cities in these regions were founded before Turkic tribes ever reached the area. The first mention of Baku was in 885, before the Turkic invasions of the 10th and 11th centuries.

Archaeological evidence discovered in these regions show a large Zoroastrian, a monotheistic Iranian religion, influence along with an Iranian presence of more than 3000 years, starting with the settlement of the Medes in the area, both of which shaped the Iranian identity of the region that lasted until the Turkic invasions. However, no evidence has been discovered that the Huns ever created permanent settlements in the area, as some Turkish historians claim.

Scholars see cultural similarities between modern Persians and Azeris as evidence of an ancient Iranian influence. Azeri's celebrate a number of Iranian holidays, most notably Norouz. Researchers also describe the lives of Azeri villagers and Persian villagers to be very similar in terms of tradition and culture. The literature of the region was also written in Persian, with writers such as Qatran Tabrizi, Shams Tabrizi, Nezami, and Khaghani, writing in Persian prior to and during the Oghuz invasions.

Also, remnants of former Iranian tribes that survived Turkification also provides evidence of the Iranian character of Azeri's. The Talyshs and Tats are both an Iranian people who speak Iranian languages, with Tats speaking a dialect of Persian.

Genetics and physical appearance

File:Seljuk prince.jpg

Seljuk Prince with Mongolian facial features.

A recent study of the genetic landscape of Iran was completed by a team of Cambridge geneticists led by Dr. Maziar Ashrafian Bonab (an Iranian Azarbaijani). Bonab remarked that his group had done extensive DNA testing on different language groups, including Indo-European and non Indo-European speakers, in Iran. The study found that the Azerbaijanis of Iran do not have a similar FSt and other genetic markers found in Anatolian and European Turks. However, the genetic Fst and other genetic traits like MRca and mtDNA of Iranian Azeris were identical to Persians in Iran. Some new genetic studies suggest that recent erosion of human population structure might not be as important as previously thought, and overall genetic structure of human populations may not change with the immigration events and thus in the Azerbaijanis case ; the Azeris of Azerbaijan republic most of all genetically resemble to other Caucasian people like Armenians and people the Azarbaijan region of Iran to other Iranians .

Genetic testing has also shown that only 9% of Turks from Turkey have a Central Asian Turkic gene. That, coupled with other genetic tests, is proof that Turks west of Central Asia are Turkic linguistically, not ethnically. It should also be noted that Turkic tribes, both in the past and in the present, have Mongolian facial features. Roman scholars recorded Attila the Hun having these features. Near Eastern scholars also recorded the same descriptions of the Central Asian Turkic tribes. Seljuq statues also show the shah's having Mongolian facial features. Modern Turks west of Central Asia do not show these features, and do not look like their linguistic counter parts in Central Asia, such as Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyzs. Rather, Turks west of Central Asia exhibit Caucasian features, like their Indo-European neighbors.

Opposition

The Azeris in Iran and the Azeris in the Republic of Azerbaijan may not be the same people ethnically, however, only have a linguistic and religious bond. This is supported by genetic testing that has shown Azeris in the republic of being mainly of Caucasian descent, while Azeris in Iran being of Iranic descent. Encyclopaedia Britannica states:

...the Azerbaijani Turks of Caucasia were separated from the majority of their linguistic and religious compatriots, who remained in Iran.

• Although Genetic testing proves the Turkification of the region rather than Azeris being of Turkic stock, it also shows that the region is a mixed one. Though the population of Azerbaijan is culturally diverse, genetic testing has revealed common genetic markers that support an autochthonous background for most Azeris. A 2003 study found that: "Y-chromosome haplogroups indicate that Indo-European-speaking Armenians and Turkic-speaking Azerbaijanians from the republic are genetically more closely related to their geographic neighbors in the Caucasus than to their linguistic neighbors elsewhere." The authors of this study suggest that this indicates a language replacement of indigenous Caucasian peoples. There is evidence of limited genetic admixture derived from Central Asians (specifically Haplogroup H12), notably the Turkmen, that is higher than that of their neighbors, the Georgians and Armenians. MtDNA analysis indicates that the main relationship with Iranians is through a larger West Eurasian group that is secondary to that of the Caucasus, according to a study that did not include Azeris, but Georgians who have clustered with Azeris in other studies. The conclusion from the testing shows that the Azeris are a mixed population with relationships, in order of greatest similarity, with the Caucasus, Iranians and Near Easterners, Europeans, and Turkmen. Other genetic analysis of mtDNA and Y-chromosomes indicates that Caucasian populations are genetically intermediate between Europeans and Near Easterners, but that they are more closely related to Near Easterners overall. Another study, conducted in 2003 by the Russian Journal of Genetics, compared Iranians in Azerbaijan (the Talysh and Tats) with Turkic Azerbaijanis and found that,

the genetic structure of the populations examined with the other Iranian-speaking populations (Persians and Kurds from Iran, Ossetins, and Tajiks) and Azerbaijanis showed that Iranian-speaking populations from Azerbaijan were more close to Azerbaijanis, than to Iranian-speaking populations inhabiting other world regions.

• Ancient historians, including Herodotus, Polybius and Strabo, mention the region as a mixed one, with Iranian and non-Iranian groups, such as the Utii, a Caucasian group that still exists in Azerbaijan.

Conclusion

Whether originally Iranian or Caucasian, it is relatively certain and accepted by most scholars that Azeri's are not descendants of Turkic tribes, although they have certainly been affected by them.

It should also be noted that citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, may have different origins than the Azari's of Iran, most likely Caucasian while Iranian Azari's being Iranic.

According to the prevailing scientific view, “the Azerbaijanis are of mixed ethnic origin", and the modern Azerbaijani people are descendants of various ethnic groups that contributed to their ethnogesis. However, this is a very general statement and can be said of almost every ethnic group today, with the exception of some isolated peoples.

See also

• Caucasian origin of the Azerbaijanis
• Iran
• Iranian people
• History of Iran
• Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijani People