Historicity and Historical Ethnography of Azerbaijan: The 18th and 19th century Caucasus at a Glance
Vol. 6 • No: 2, 2016, рр. 193-204
By Editor of «Caucasus International» journal (Vol. 6 • No: 2 • Winter 2016): «The issue also features an off-topic article - Rizvan Huseynov Najafoglu, the Director of Caucasus History Center and a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Law and Human Rights of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) provided an article on “Historicity and Historical Ethnography of Azerbaijan: The 18th and 19th century Caucasus at a Glance” where he analysis the ancient and medieval sources on Azerbaijan».
http://cijournal.az/post/editors-note
Historicity and Historical Ethnographyof Azerbaijan: The 18th and 19th century Caucasus at aGlance
PDF-version here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7BEevnub_DNUDRGRjlsUWYyOXM/view |
| Caucasus in 18th and 19th century |
Rizvan Huseynov Najafoglu -
Director of Caucasus History Center, Senior
researcher at the Institute of Law and Human Rights of Azerbaijan National
Academy of Sciences (ANAS)
Abstract
This article is a part of a larger research project on historical
territories and the Turkic population of Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus, first
published in 2015 as a monograph, “Azerbaijan and the Armenian question in the
Caucasus” (Азербайджан и армянский вопрос на Кавказе). The
author drew upon nearly 300 ancient, medieval, and modern sources describing
Azerbaijan’s territories in the Caucasus. This article presents the European
and American sources from the 18th and early 19th centuries,
describing the territory and the population of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus. The
aim of this study is to show the historicity of Azerbaijan in regional politics
and international relations during the aforementioned period.
Introduction
For a long time, European and Russian scientific tradition accepted the
view that the historical territories of Azerbaijan are located in Iran, and
that in the South Caucasus, the definition “Azerbaijan” appeared only after the
establishment of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic in 1918. Based on this rather shaky
assertion, it was frequently concluded that Azerbaijan is an artificial
political formation, historically unrelated to the Caucasus. In many textbooks,
scientific works and articles published in various countries, Azerbaijani territories
in the South Caucasus are often labeled part of “South Armenia” or Persia; or
split into administrative units (Shirvan, Dagestan, Zakatala, Gazakh, Aran,
Karabakh, Lenkoran and other). Such accounts clearly fail to take into consideration
the fact that all of these administrative units were for many centuries united as
part of Azerbaijan, covering large areas of the western coast of the Caspian
Sea, Caucasus, and Western Asia. The willingness of parts of the scientific and
political community to deny Azerbaijan’s historical existence on the
geopolitical map of the region no doubt plays into the hands of Armenia, a
country that has illegally occupied 20% of Azerbaijan’s territories since the
beginning of the 1990s. The regrettable tendency in the academic community to
ignore Azerbaijan’s historicity has been used by Armenia to justify the “liberation
of the ancient Armenian lands.” The occupation and the distortion of history in
defining the contemporary map of the South Caucasus makes it necessary to demonstrate
to the flawed nature of this interpretation of the region’s political history.
As a response to such a tendency, this paper argues that the continuity of
Azerbaijan’s borders within the South Caucasus can be traced back more than two
thousand years. As part of a broader research project on historical territories
of Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus, this paper suggests – through studying
European and American sources, writings and maps – that an initial examination
of the territories, political role and ethnic composition of Azerbaijan during
the 18th and 19th centuries clearly shows the historicity
of the country. The paper accordingly offers a brief account of 18th
and 19th century maps and writings on Azerbaijan produced by
European academics and travelers.
Historicity of Azerbaijan
The Republic of Azerbaijan considers itself the spiritual heir to the great
medieval oriental empires established by Azerbaijani rulers and khanates in the
Caucasus, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Central Asia over different historical
periods. And historically, Azerbaijan’s borders are considered to run from the
Caucasian mountain ridge in the North (down to Derbent) to Central Iran in the
South, from the Geycha Lake (now Sevan Lake in Armenia) and Urmia (north-west
Iran) in the West, to the Caspian Sea in the East. In fact, international treaties
signed by Russian emperors, Ottoman sultans, and Persian shahs had long recognized
such territories as part of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, this vast area continued
to be considered as Azerbaijani territory until the surrounding empires turned
the Caucasus into a battleground in the 18th and 19th
centuries. Accordingly, the weakening and then the collapse of the Safavid
Empire in 1774 led to a protracted battle between Russian, Ottoman, and
European empires for the division of territories that had constituted the
Empire. However, this process could not prevent the creation of the Azerbaijani
Qajar Empire on the ruins of the Safavid state. Accordingly, following the
signing of the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, the historical Azerbaijan
territories were divided between Russia and Qajar Iran. Indeed, it was in this
very period (the 18th and 19th centuries), that the European
scientific and political community began paying attention to the history,
people, and political situation of the Caucasus thus produced studies and
writings in addition to maps and cartographies on political and ethnic
composition of the Safavid and Qajar Empires.
Jean Jacques Élisée Reclus, the 19th century French scientist, notes
that the Atropatene-Azerbaijan territories spread as far as Dagestan, for
example. Reclus presented a map of the region wherein the territories of
Atropatene spread to the North Caucasus. The map was published in two Russian
pre-revolutionary books written by Reclus.[1] (Fig. №1).
 |
| Fig. № 1 |
In his book “L’Homme et la terre” (“The Earth and its Inhabitants”), Reclus
cited the works of ancient authors relating the Turkic population of Media and
Azerbaijan. Reclus wrote “Herodotus in one of his history excerpts listing the
six tribes (races) of Media. From interpretation of their names attempted by J.
Oppert and Ch. Lenormant, it appears that two tribes named “Aryan” were of
the same origin as Persian. Another four groups of tribes were the rural
population of “Turanian” origin, divided into settled farmers and nomad herders.”[2]
Referring
to the leading European Turkologists and linguists of the 19th
century, Reclus came to the conclusion that from ancient times, the Turkic
people had formed a considerable part of the population of the Western Asia and
Caucasus, and had a serious influence on ancient Persian culture. This implies
that 2,700 years ago, on the lands of Media and Atropatene, Turkic people were
prosperous people and formed the majority of the population in the region
(according to Herodotus: of six tribes, four were Turkic). In contrast to most
European scholars, Reclus openly admitted that that contemporary Western academics
had a biased view on the role of Turkic people in Western Asia in ancient times,
attributing all the achievements to Persian influence. “Scholars until now
could not tell the proportion of these two ethnic elements in mixed population
of Media but the fact of similarities in origin of Western European languages
and Aryan language of Persians induce us under egoistic feelings to attribute
to Aryans the leading role in Iranian plateau. At the same time we unwittingly
set the highest premium on Persians not only in number but also in political
meaning.”[3]
In another example, the famous Behistun inscription is a trilingual
cuneiform text on a cliff at Mount Behistun (Bisutun) south-west of Ecbatana,
between Kermanshah and Hamadan in Iran. This was carved on the order of
Achaemenid King Darius I on the events of 523-521 B.C. European orientalists admit
that one of the three languages used in the inscription was Turkic.
Unfortunately, modern historians have not publicized this fact. In 1868, the
Swedish scientist Eric Nustrem (1833-1897) wrote in his “Bible Dictionary”: “Starting
from the reign of Darius the inscription written in three languages was
preserved on the high Behistun rock at the western border of Media. The king
was depicted there trampling the lying man probably Gaumata which pretended to
be Smerdis. The inscription consists of 300 lines in Persian, Assyrian and
Tatar languages (cuneiform).”[4]
It is important to note that Reclus counted nearly one hundred of cuneiform
inscriptions in Armenia and Azerbaijan that were destroyed or moved to
different countries. He also mentions that the lands of the Caucasus,
Azerbaijan and present day Armenia were settled by Turkic people in ancient
times. He specifically locates Armenia in Asia Minor, stating that Armenians
moved from there to the Caucasus. Furthermore, he writes that many different
ethnicities call themselves “Armenians”, noting their relationship to the
Armenian Gregorian church. Reclus also explained that in ancient times, Turkic
people inhabited and ruled vast territories including present day Armenia.
For instance, Reclus writes: “The name “Armenia” applied in ancient times
apparently, to the south west of the country having this name nowadays.
Herodotus knows “Armenians” only in the upper Euphrates near Phrygia and
on mountains where from the river Halys starts. Consequently, movement of this
nationality (Armenians - R.H.) should happen in West to East direction and
ended with their advent in the Aras valley.”[5] “[…] people,
who call themselves “Armenians” are Kurds and Jewish.”[6]
Therefore, as the above sources suggest, the spread of the
Atropatene-Azerbaijan territories to the North Caucasus and its population with
Turkic peoples is proven by ancient inscriptions and in archaeological
findings. Thus the so-called scientific approaches of confining and reducing the
heritage of the region to Persian people or to “ancient Armenians” are vague,
biased, and mostly politically driven.
The human geography and ethnography
of historical Azerbaijan
European authors and cartographers of the 18th and 19th
centuries wrote that the territories of Azerbaijan covered a considerable part
of South Caucasus, present Armenia, and also included Derbent in the north.
They were confirmed also by medieval Arab and other sources. The map of the 18th
century German cartographer Georg Matthäus Seutter (Fig. 2) for example shows the territory
of Azerbaijan covering the vast lands of the Southern Caucasus and present day
Armenia, where the Erivan khanate was situated.[7]
 |
| Fig. № 2 |
There are several different sources of information on Azerbaijan’s division
between the Russian and Persian Empires under the 1828 Turkmenchay Treaty. An
interesting source on the post-Russian annexation geography of Azerbaijan is
the map drawn up by Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1802-1887). In his book “A
Comprehensive Atlas: Geographical, Historical & Commercial” (Boston, 1835),
a map on “Persia, Arabia, Tartary, Afghanistan (Fig. No. 3) shows the territories of Azerbaijan encompassing present day Armenia and Yerevan.[8] Thomas
Bradford was indeed a reliable academic, as he was the junior editor of “Encyclopedia
Americana”, the first significant Encyclopedia of the USA and during his career
he drew up several maps of United States and other countries.
 |
| Fig. № 3 |
In another example, the British “Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge” (1826-1848) published the Encyclopedia “The penny
cyclopedia” in 1838, which stated that the Muslim population of Karabakh
exceeded the Armenian population by a factor of 10. The source also states that
the mass movement of the Muslim population from Karabakh to Iran occurred,
while simultaneously, Russia encouraged Armenians to settle in Karabakh. “The population of Karabagh, according to the
official returns of 1832, consisted of 13,965 Mohammedan and 1491 Armenian
families, besides some Nestorian Christians and Gypsies. This limited
population may be ascribed to the frequent wars which have long desolated the
province, and to the emigration to Persia of many Mohammedan families since its
subjection to Russia, although many Armenians were induced by the Russian
government, after the peace of Toorkmanchai peace accord between Russia and
Qajar state, to emigrate from Persia to Karabagh.”[9] The British
Society map, drawn up in 1835 and published in 1844, (Fig. №4) depicted Azerbaijan as encompassing
the current territories of the Armenian Republic.[10]
 |
| Fig. № 4 |
In his 1864 memorandum for the Royal Geographical Society, the British
consul in Tabriz, Keith Abbott, described Azerbaijan: ”The country known to the Persians as Azerbaijan
is divided between them and Russia, the latter Power possessing about
five-eighth of the whole, which may be roughly stated to cover an area of about
80,000 square miles, or about the size of Great Britain; 50,000 square
miles are therefore about the extent of the division belonging to Russia, and
30,000 of that which remains to Persia. The Russian division is bounded on the
north and north-east by the mountains of Caucasus, extending to the vicinity of
Bakou on the Caspian. On the west it has the provinces of Imeritia, Mingrelia,
Gooriel, and Ahkhiska (now belonging to Russia); on the east it has the Caspian
Sea, and on the south the Boundary is marked by the course of the River Arrass
(Araxes) to near the 46th parallel of longitude, then by a
conventional line across the plains of Moghan to the district of Talish, and by
the small stream of Astura which flows to the Caspian through the latter
country. In this area are
contained the following territorial divisions: Georgia or Goorjistan, comprising Kakhetty,
Kartaliny, Somekhetty, Kasakh; the Mohammedan countries of Eriwan, Nakhshewan,
Karabagh, Ghenja, Shirwan, Shekky, Shamachy, Bakou, Koobeh, Salian and a
portion of Talish.”[11] This
memorandum shows that in the 1860s, the populations of Erivan, Nakhchivan and
Karabakh were predominantly Muslim and Turkic, even after
several thousands of Armenians from Iran and Turkey had settled there.
 |
| Fig. № 5 |
 |
| Fig. № 6 |
The British newspaper “The universal gazetteer” published an article
stating that at the beginning of the
19th century, vast territories in Caucasus and especially the
present Republic of Armenia, were located inside Azerbaijan: “Aiderbezan, or Azerbeyan, a
fruitful province of Persia, situated at the west coast of the Caspian
Sea, and having Georgia on the north. Its chief town [Aiderbezan] is Taurus.
The climate is healthy, but cold”[12] (Fig. № 5, 6).
French orientalist Amable Louis Marie Michel Bréchillet Jourdain is
another interesting source of information from the 19th century, the
period when Russian expansion in the Caucasus and Azerbaijan began and resulted
in the mass migration of Armenians to the region from Asia Minor and Middle
East. Jourdain, whose work was published in 1814-1815, (Fig. № 7) writes
that “There are still
Armenians in Adzerbadagan especially at Meragan, Urmiag, Salmas, Tavriysk,
Karabagh and Erivan cantons. There estimated population not more than 60,000
people, which exceeds the any likelihood.”[13]
 |
| Fig. № 7 |
Amable Jourdain conceived Azerbaijan’s borders as encompassing large areas
in Asia Minor and the South Caucasus. This included the whole of Karabakh and
Erivan. According to his calculations, the Armenian population
living in North and South Azerbaijan amounted to just over 60,000. Jourdain
mainly lists Armenian populations in the Azerbaijani territories of Iran. Jourdain lists Armenian populations in Azerbaijani territories of Iran.
According to him in Karabakh and (which for that period also included territory
of Zangezur province) Erivan Armenians were not more than 10-12 thousand. In the 1815 edition of “Vestnik
Evropy” (The Bulletin of Europe), Jourdain describes Azerbaijan and the
traditions of Azerbaijani Qajar dynasty ruling Iran. He apparently admired the
crown prince of the Persian throne, Abbas-Mirza and again admiringly mentioned
the special role of Turkic people in the history of the region.[14]
 |
| Fig. № 8 |
Victor Bérard (1864-1931), French Hellenist,
archaeologist, politician, and diplomat is another writer who compiled important
information about Azerbaijan. He became more famous after his translation of “Odyssey”
by Homer into French. Bérard was a senator, later elected as a chief of the
French Senate Committee on foreign affairs. Bérard left a huge volume of work
devoted to Muslim and Turkic countries. In particular, in his work published in
1910 in Paris, “Révolutions de la
Perse: les provinces, les peuples et le gouvernement du roi des rois”, he
compiled unique materials about Azerbaijan and its territories, political-administrative
system, population and its role in the geopolitics of the East. He notes in
particular that during 8th century Azerbaijan and its Turkic
population - termed “Azeries” - played an important role in the
civilizational processes of the Islamic world. He compares the influence of
Azerbaijan in Islamic civilization to the influence of Ancient Egypt on the
ancient and antique world. Bérard mentions Azerbaijani territories in Caucasus,
emphasizing the public and political domination of “Azeri-Turks”: “Azerbaijan
and north-western provinces were for a long time loyal to the Qajars –
this feeling doubled with Turanian relativity between Turkic Qajars and Turkic
Azeries, which were the majority of settled population. These north-west
provinces of (Azerbaijan - R.H.) were in some unity. To the north, its sphere
of influence (Azerbaijan - R.H.) spread to the Caucasus from the subordinate
provinces of Shirvan and Dagestan and vassal principalities - Georgia and
Mingrelia.”[15] (Fig. № 8)
Bérard continues, “Russian realignment of borders after 1828 took away
from (Azerbaijan - R.H.) the northern lands and added them to Tbilisi (Russian
possessions in Caucasus - R.H.), including the region to the north from Aras
River. In the East, the Russians left only the strip of mountainous regions and
the Caspian coast… Turkic language is
used in the villages and the towns. Azerbaijan is Turkic country. This ‘Azeris
Turkestan’ remains as one of the piers of that Turkic-Tatarian bridge…”[16]
 |
| Fig. № 9 |
In a final example, an extensive data on the history, territories and
administrative structure of Azerbaijan was compiled in a 1919 article titled “La
premieres republique musulmane: l’Azerbaedjan”. The article was published
in Paris in the journal of Revue
du Monde Musulman. The article states that, “There are two Azerbaijans populated with Turkic people, with Persian
culture and Shia Islam: Tabriz Azerbaijan in Persia and Baku Azerbaijan in
Transcaucasia… During many centuries, Azerbaijan territories in Caucasus were
limited by the Caspian Sea in the east, in south Persia, in the west with
Turkey and Georgia and along the chain of high Caucasian mountains in the
north. Azerbaijan consisted of independent khanates, Ganja, Erivan, Nakhchivan,
Karabakh, Shaki, Shirvan, Talysh, Baku, Guba, etc. These territories were
transferred by inheritance and ruled by sovereign khans. The legislation, court
and administrative authority was joint, but (khanates) had a right to their own
monetary system. Consequently, the foreign affairs were concentrated in hands
of khans. In short, these khanates were sovereign in their activities and also
had good relations with their neighbors.”[17] (Fig. № 9)
In short, the European sources mentioned above provide a clear description
of the territories of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus and its ethno-cultural
composition. This suggests that contrary to Russian and Armenian denialist
history, showing that Azerbaijan historically held territories where the
Republic of Armenia was later established.
Final remarks
For many centuries Azerbaijan was recorded as the major administrative,
military, political, and territorial unit of the Caucasus. European sources provide a different perspective on the socio-political
processes in the region, and reveal Russia’s role in organizing the mass
settlement of Armenians in the Caucasus in the 19th century. What
followed was the appropriation by Armenian immigrants of the rich spiritual,
architectural and written heritage of the Christian people of the region, as
well as the Azerbaijani people. In this way, Armenian immigrants were able to
declare themselves as the ancient people of the Caucasus and make territorial
claims upon four neighboring countries: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Iran.
Armenian propaganda is currently trying to prove that Azerbaijan and its state structures
in the South Caucasus did not exist in the ancient history, and that the term “Azerbaijan”
only appeared a hundred years ago on the map of the region.
This ideological appropriation of Azerbaijani heritage and history has
become an open war by Armenia against Azerbaijan, ultimately leading to the
occupation of nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and the expulsion of
one million Azerbaijanis from their lands.
[1]
Reclus J.E. (1908) The Earth and its inhabitants. St.Petersburg: P.P.Soykin’s
publishing house.
[2]
Reclus J.E. (1906) The Earth and its inhabitants. Early man – ancient history. Vol.1.
Translated from French by L.Schmidt. St.Petersburg: The Brockhaus and Efron
publishing house, p. 394
[3]
Reclus J.E. (1906) The Earth and its inhabitants. Early man – ancient history. Vol.1.
Translated from French by L.Schmidt. St.Petersburg: The Brockhaus and Efron
publishing house, p. 395
[4]
Nustrem E. (2008) Bible dictionary. Translated from Swedish under the
editorship of I.S. Swenson, Kiev, p. 168
[5]
Reclus J.E. (1906) The Earth and its inhabitants. Early man – ancient history. Vol.1.
Translated from French by L.Schmidt. St.Petersburg: The Brockhaus and Efron
publishing house, p. 452
[6]
Ibid, p. 453
[7]
Seutter’s Map of Turkey (Ottoman Empire), Persia and Arabia (1730). Magni
Turcarum Dominatoris Imperium per Europam, Asiam Et Africam, se extendens
Regiones tam proprias, quan tributarias et clientelares ut et omnes
Beglerbegatus sive Praefecturas Generales oculis sistens accu- ratissima cura
delineatum per Matthaeum Seutter, S.C. Maj. Geogr. Aug., Atlas Novus. Matthaeso
Seutter. (1730)
[8]
Bradford, T. G (1835) ‘Persia, Arabia, Tartary, Afghanistan’ A comprehensive
atlas geographical, historical & commercial. Boston: Ticknor, William
Davis, p. 308.
[9]
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. (1844) Russia in Europe and
Georgia. Caucasus, Circassia, Astrakhan, Georgia. Part IX. Published under the
superintendence of the Engraved by J. & C. Walker. London, published by
Baldwin and Cradock, 47 Paternoster Row Augt. 1st. 1835. London: Chapman
& Hall, p. 175
[10]
The penny cyclopеdia
of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge. (1828) London: ed. by G.
Long
[11]
Abbott, Keith E. (1863-1864) Extracts from a Memorandum on the Country of
Azerbaijan, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 8(6), pp.
275-279.
[12]
The universal gazetteer (1801) by John Walker, M.D, London (reprint – 1815), p.
25.
[13]
Vestnik Evropy (1815). A journal. Part 80. № 8. Jourdain Amable. La perse ou
tableau de gouvernement, de la religion et de la litterature de cette empire,
pp. 291-292.
[14]
Ibid, pp. 284-305.
[15]
Bérard V. (1910) Revolutions de la Perse, les provinces, les peuples et le
gouvernement du roi des rois. Paris: Librairie Armand Colin, pp. 154-155.
[16]
Ibid, pp. 164-165.
[17]
Revue du Monde Musulman, publia par la mission scientifique du Maroc
(1918-1919), Tome 36. La premieres republique musulmane: l'Azerbaedjan. Paris:
Editions Ernest Leroux, p. 230.
Translated by Aygun Kosayeva
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