Iranian theory regarding the origin of the Azerbaijanis

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The Iranian theory regarding the origin of the Azerbaijanis seeks to prove a link between present-day Azeris and their pre-Turkification Iranian past. This theory is supported by historical accounts, the ancient Azari language, present day place names, cultural similarities between Iranian peoples and Azeri's, archaeological evidence, and DNA testing. It is also favoured by some notable scholars and sources, such as the Encyclopaedia of Islam, and is the only theory with solid evidence supporting it ^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Historical accounts and the ancient Azari language

See also: Ancient Azari language

The language of pre-Turkic Azerbaijan is also thought to have been a dialect of Persian.^[1] 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^[2][3], 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 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, 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.[4]

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.

^[5]

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.[6]

[edit] Place names, culture, and archaeological evidence

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, Abşeron, 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.^[7] However, no evidence has been discovered that the Huns ever created permanent settlements in the area, as some Turkish historians claim.^[8]

Scholars see cultural similarities between modern Persians and Azeris as evidence of an ancient Iranian influence.^[9] 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. Azerbaijani literature 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.^[10][11]

[edit] Genetics and physical appearance

Seljuk Prince with Mongoloid 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).^[12] Bonab remarked that his group had done extensive DNA testing on different language groups, including Indo-European and non Indo-European speakers, in Iran.^[13] 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. These studies suffer from some drawbacks, including a lack of specific comparative studies between Azeribaijanis from Iran and Azerbaijan.

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 Mongoloid 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 Mongoloid 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.

[edit] Opposition

It should be noted that 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 Brittanica states:

...the Azerbaijani Turks of Caucasia were separated from the majority of their linguistic and religious compatriots, who remained in Iran.[14]

• 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."^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[15] 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.[18]

• 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.^[19]

[edit] Conclusion

It is difficult to say from whom modern ethnic groups descended from today, as population movements and interracial mixing have dilluted genes. However, 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. ^{[citation needed]}

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. ^{[citation needed]}

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.^[20] However, this is a very general statement and can be said of almost every ethnic group today, with the exception of some isolated peoples.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Iran
• Iranian people
• History of Iran
• Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijani People

[edit] References

1. ^ "Iranian Peoples: Azaris, Language of Azeri People and Pan-Turkism" by Mohammad Taghi Sabokdel - The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (retrieved 08 June 2006).
2. ^ Al-Muqaddasi, Ahsan al-Taqāsīm, p. 259 & 378, "... the Azerbaijani language is not pretty [...] but their Persian is intelligible, and in articulation it is very similar to the Persian of Khorasan ...", 10th century, Persia (retrieved 18 June 2006).
3. ^
4. ^ (Russian) Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. "Turko-Tatars". St. Petersburg, Russia, 1890-1907
5. ^ Man By: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, JSTOR (Organization)
6. ^ [Encyclopaedia Iranica http://www.iranica. com/newsite/ articles/ v13f3/v13f3004a. html]
7. ^ "Various Fire-Temples" - University of Calgary (retrieved 08 June 2006).
8. ^ pp. 385-386
9. ^ "Azerbaijan" - Columbia Encyclopedia (retrieved 08 June 2006).
10. ^ "Report for Talysh" — Ethnologue (retrieved 08 June 2006).
11. ^ "Report for Tats" — Ethnologue (retrieved 08 June 2006).
12. ^ "Maziar Ashrafian Bonab" — Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge (retrieved 09 June 2006)
13. ^ "Cambridge Genetic Study of Iran" — ISNA (Iranian Students News Agency), 06-12-2006, news-code: 8503-06068 (retrieved 09 June 2006)
14. ^ Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online: History of Azerbaijan [1]
15. ^ ^{a b} Ibid.
16. ^ A Genetic Landscape Reshaped by Recent Events: Y-Chromosomal Insights into Central Asia — American Journal of Human Genetics, 71:466-482, 2002 (retrieved 09 June 2006)
17. ^ Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor — American Journal of Human Genetics, 74:827-845, 2004 (retrieved 09 June 2006)
18. ^ Genetic Structure of Iranian-Speaking Populations from Azerbaijan Inferred from the Frequencies of Immunological and Biochemical Gene Markers — Russian Journal of Genetics, Volume 39, Number 11, November 2003, pp. 1334-1342(9) (retrieved 09 June 2006)
19. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume V18, Page 22)
20. ^ "Azerbaijani" - Encyclopedia Britannica