AZERBAIJANI STATES IN HISTORY Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Its bounded by Caspian Sea to the east, Russias Daghestan region to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the southwest, and Iran to the south. Azerbaijan is a home to various ethnicities, majority of which are Azerbaijani, a Turkic ethnic group which numbers close to 9 million in the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. During Median and Persian rule, many Caucasian Albanians adopted Zoroastrianism and then switched to Christianity prior to coming of Muslim Arabsand 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 Turkic language of the Oghuz and converted to Islam over a period of several hundred years.[1] After more than 80 years of colonization under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918. The state was invaded by Soviet forces in 1920 and remained under Soviet rule until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contents [hide] • 1 Prehistory o 1.1 Paleolithic o 1.2 Eneolithic o 1.3 Bronze to Iron Ages • 2 Antiquity o 2.1 Achaemenid and Seleucid rule o 2.2 Caucasian Albania, Roman-Parthian rivalry, and Sassanian conquest • 3 Middle Ages o 3.1 Islamic conquest o 3.2 Seljuqs and successor states o 3.3 Mongols and Ilkhanid rule o 3.4 The end of Mongol rule and the Kara Koyunlu-Agh Koyunlu rivalry o 3.5 The Shirvanshahs • 4 Safavids and the rise of Shia Islam • 5 Khanates of late 18th – early 19th centuries • 6 Russian rule • 7 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic • 8 Soviet Azerbaijan • 9 Independent Azerbaijan o 9.1 Mutalibov presidency (1991-1992) o 9.2 Elchibey presidency (1992-1993) o 9.3 Heydar Aliyev presidency (1993-2003) o 9.4 Ilham Aliyev presidency (2003) • 10 Footnotes • 11 See also • 12 Further reading • 13 External links Prehistory[edit] Paleolithic[edit] 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 that are at least 700,000 years old. In 1968 Mammadali Huseynov discovered a 300,000 year old partial jawbone of an early human, this was the oldest human remains ever discovered in the Soviet Union. 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 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. Eneolithic[edit] The Eneolithic or Chalcolithic period (ca. 6th – 4th millennium BCE) was the period of transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Many Eneolithic settlements have been discovered in Azerbaijan, and carbon-dated artifacts show that during this period, people built homes, made copper tools and arrowheads, and were familiar with no-irrigated agriculture. Bronze to Iron Ages[edit] The influence of ancient peoples and civilizations including the Sumerians and Elamites came to a crossroads in the territory of Azerbaijan. 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 BCE, 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 ofUrartu. In dealing with the history of Azerbaijan, most western scholars refer to Greek, Arab, Roman, and Persian sources. Median Empire. Caucasian Albanians are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Azerbaijan.[2] Early invaders included the Scythians in the 9th century BCE.[3] 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 modern Azerbaijan between 190 BCE to 428 CE.[4][5] Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the 1st century BCE and largely remained independent until the Sassanids made the kingdom a province in 252 CE.[6][7][8] Caucasian Albanias ruler, King Urnayr, officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century CE, and Albania would remain a Christian state until the 8th century.[9][10]Sassanid control ended with their defeat by Muslim Arabs in 642 CE.[11] 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 20th century CE. Among the Iranian nomads who made incursion into and from Azerbaijan are the Scythians, Alans and Cimmerians. Altaic Nomads such as Khazars and Huns made incursions during the Hunnic and Khazar era. The walls and fortification of Darband were built during the Sassanid era in order to block nomads coming from the caucus pass. However, they did not make permanent settlements.[12] Antiquity[edit] Main articles: Caucasian Albania and Atropatene Achaemenid and Seleucid rule[edit] 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 the Great 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 lasted over 250 years and was conquered 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 Alexanders 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.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 11:30:43 +0000
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