Azerbaijan is a country in the southeast of the Caucasus. Many important and interesting events took place on these lands. And history can tell us a lot about them. Azerbaijan will appear in a historical retrospective, revealing the secrets of its past.
Location of Azerbaijan
The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the east of Transcaucasia. From the north, the border of Azerbaijan has contact with the Russian Federation. In the south, the country borders with Iran, in the west - with Armenia, in the north-west - with Georgia. From the east, the country is washed by the waves of the Caspian Sea.
The territory of Azerbaijan is almost equally represented by mountainous areas and lowlands. This fact played an important role in the historical development of the country.
Primal Times
First of all, let's learn about the most ancient times that history allows us to look into. Azerbaijan was inhabited at the dawn of human development. So, the most ancient monument of the presence of a Neanderthal in the country dates back to more than 1.5 million years ago.
The most significant sites of ancient man were found in Azykh andTaglar caves.
Ancient Azerbaijan
The first state, which was located on the territory of Azerbaijan, was Manna. Its center was within the borders of modern Iranian Azerbaijan.
The name "Azerbaijan" comes from the name of Atropat - the governor who began to rule in Mann after its conquest by Persia. In honor of him, the whole country began to be called Media Atropatena, which later transformed into the name "Azerbaijan".
One of the first peoples that inhabited Azerbaijan were Albanians. This ethnic group belonged to the Nakh-Dagestan language family and was closely related to modern Lezgins. In the 1st millennium BC, the Albanians had their own state. Unlike Manna, it was located in the north of the country. Caucasian Albania was constantly exposed to the aggressive aspirations of Ancient Rome, Byzantium, the Parthian kingdom and Iran. For some time, the Armenian king Tigran II was able to gain a foothold in large areas of the country.
In the IV c. n. e. Christianity came to the territory of Albania, which until then was dominated by local religions and Zoroastrianism, from Armenia.
Arab conquest
In the 7th century. n. e. an event occurred that played a decisive role in the history of the region. It's about the Arab conquest. First, the Arabs conquered the Iranian kingdom, from which Albania was a vassal, and then launched an attack on Azerbaijan itself. After the Arabs captured the country, its history made a new round. Azerbaijan has now become foreverinextricably linked to Islam. The Arabs, having included the country in the Caliphate, began to pursue a systematic policy of Islamization of the region and quickly achieved their goals. The southern cities of Azerbaijan were first subjected to Islamization, and then the new religion penetrated the countryside and the north of the country.
But not everything was so easy for the Arab administration in the south-east of the Caucasus. In 816, an uprising began in Azerbaijan against the Arabs and Islam. This popular movement was led by Babek, who adhered to the ancient Zoroastrian religion. The main support of the uprising were artisans and peasants. For more than twenty years, the people, led by Babek, fought against the Arab authorities. The rebels even managed to expel the Arab garrisons from the territory of Azerbaijan. To crush the uprising, the Caliphate had to consolidate all its forces.
The State of Shirvanshahs
Despite the fact that the uprising was crushed, the Caliphate weakened every year. He no longer had the strength, as before, to control various parts of the vast empire.
The governors of the northern part of Azerbaijan (Shirvan), starting from 861, began to be called Shirvanshahs and transfer their power by inheritance. They were nominally subordinate to the caliph, but in fact they were completely independent rulers. Over time, even nominal dependence disappeared.
The capital of the Shirvanshahs was originally Shemakha, and then Baku. The state existed until 1538, when it was included in the Persian state of the Safavids.
At the same time in the south of the countrythere were successive states of the Sajids, Salarids, Sheddadids, Ravvadids, who also either did not recognize the power of the Caliphate at all, or did so only formally.
Turkization of Azerbaijan
No less important for history than the Islamization of the region caused by the Arab conquest was its Turkization due to the invasion of various Turkic nomadic tribes. But, unlike Islamization, this process dragged on for several centuries. The importance of this event is emphasized by a number of factors that characterize modern Azerbaijan: the language and culture of the modern population of the country is of Turkic origin.
The first wave of the Turkic invasion was the invasion of the Oguz tribes of the Seljuks from Central Asia, which occurred in the XI century. It was accompanied by huge destruction and destruction of the local population. Many residents of Azerbaijan, escaping, fled to the mountains. Therefore, it was the mountainous regions of the country that were the least affected by Turkization. Here Christianity became the dominant religion, and the inhabitants of Azerbaijan mixed with the Armenians who lived in the mountainous regions. At the same time, the population remaining in their places, mixing with the Turkic conquerors, adopted their language and culture, but at the same time preserved the cultural heritage of their ancestors. The ethnic group formed from this mixture began to be called Azerbaijanis in the future.
After the collapse of the united state of the Seljuks, the Ildegezid dynasty of Turkic origin ruled in southern Azerbaijan, and then for a short time these landscaptured Khorezmshahs.
In the first half of the XIII century, the Caucasus was subjected to the Mongol invasion. Azerbaijan was included in the state of the Mongol Hulaguid dynasty with its center in the territory of modern Iran.
After the fall of the Hulaguid dynasty in 1355, Azerbaijan was part of the state of Tamerlane for a short time, and then became part of the state formations of the Oghuz tribes of Kara-Koyunlu and Ak-Koyunlu. It was during this period that the final formation of the Azerbaijani people took place.
Azerbaijan is part of Iran
After the fall of the Ak-Koyunlu state, in 1501, a powerful Safavid state with its center in Tabriz was formed on the territory of Iran and southern Azerbaijan. Later, the capital was moved to the Iranian cities of Qazvin and Isfahan.
The Safavid state had all the attributes of a real empire. The Safavids waged a particularly stubborn struggle in the west against the growing power of the Ottoman Empire, including in the Caucasus.
In 1538, the Safavids managed to conquer the state of the Shirvanshahs. Thus, the entire territory of modern Azerbaijan was under their rule. Iran retained control over the country under the following dynasties - Hotaki, Afsharids and Zends. In 1795, the Qajar dynasty of Turkic origin reigned in Iran.
At that time, Azerbaijan was already divided into many small khanates, which were subordinate to the central Iranian government.
Conquest of Azerbaijan by the Russian Empire
First attemptsto establish Russia's control over the territories of Azerbaijan were undertaken under Peter I. But at that time, the advance of the Russian Empire in the Transcaucasus did not have much success.
The situation changed radically in the first half of the 19th century. During the two Russian-Persian wars, which lasted from 1804 to 1828, almost the entire territory of modern Azerbaijan was annexed to the Russian Empire.
This was one of the turning points in history. Since then, Azerbaijan has been linked with Russia for a long time. The beginning of oil production in Azerbaijan and the development of industry dates back to the time of being part of the Russian Empire.
Azerbaijan is part of the USSR
After the October Revolution, centrifugal tendencies emerged in various regions of the former Russian Empire. In May 1918, the independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was formed. But the young state could not withstand the fight against the Bolsheviks, including due to internal contradictions. It was liquidated in 1920.
The Azerbaijan SSR was created by the Bolsheviks. Initially, it was part of the Transcaucasian Federation, but since 1936 it has become a completely equal subject of the USSR. The capital of this state formation was the city of Baku. During this period, other cities of Azerbaijan also developed intensively.
But in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed. In connection with this event, the Azerbaijan SSR ceased to exist.
Modern Azerbaijan
The independent state became known as the Republic of Azerbaijan. The first president of Azerbaijan is Ayaz Mutalibov, who was previously the first secretary of the republican committee of the Communist Party. After him, Abulfaz Elchibey and Heydar Aliyev alternately held the post of head of state. At present, the President of Azerbaijan is the son of the latter, Ilham Aliyev. He assumed this position in 2003.
The most acute problem in modern Azerbaijan is the Karabakh conflict, which began at the end of the existence of the USSR. During the bloody confrontation between the government forces of Azerbaijan and the inhabitants of Karabakh, with the support of Armenia, the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh was formed. Azerbaijan considers this territory its own, so the conflict is constantly renewed.
At the same time, one cannot fail to note the successes of Azerbaijan in building an independent state. If these successes are developed in the future, then the prosperity of the country will be the natural result of the joint efforts of the government and the people.
