History of the name Azerbaijan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Azerbaijan is the name used by the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Iranian region of Azerbaijan. This name is originated from pre-Islamic history of Persia, derived from Atropates, an Iranian Median satrap (governor).^[1]

Contents 1 Origin of the name 2 Historical Azerbaijan 3 Azerbaijan as the name of an independent republic 4 Azerbaijani people 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Origin of the name

The name Azerbaijan itself is thought to be derived from Atropates, an Iranian Median satrap (governor), who ruled a region found in modern Iranian Azarbaijan called Atropatene.^[1] Atropates name is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire."^[2] The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide which translates literally to: We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata. ^[3]

There are also alternative opinions that the term is a slight Turkification of Azarbaijan, in turn an Arabicized version of the original Persian name Āzarābādagān, made up of āzar+ābadag+ān (āzar=fire; ābādag=cultivated area; ān=suffix of pluralization); that it traditionally means "the land of eternal flames" or "the land of fire", which probably implies Zoroastrian fire temples in this land.

The works of ancient geographers and Islamic writers bear witness to the fact that the land to the north of the Aras River, which is now known as Azerbaijan, was known before as Albania (Alban). Classical writers, such as Strabon and others^{[citation needed]}, called this region Caucasian Albania, Armenian, or Alvanak (Aghvanak), while Iranians called it Aran. Aliyov, a historian in the former Soviet Azerbaijan, in his article "Sources Relating the Ancient History of Caucasus's Albania", wrote that in the Parthian era, the eastern part of the Caucasus was called "Ardan". Greek materials referred to this place as "Albania". Barthold, the famous Soviet scholar, believed that in the Islamic era and, according to Arabic sources, this name has taken the forms of "Al-ran" or "Aran", which probably is a transformation of the ancient Parthian name "Ardan". ^[4]

[edit] Historical Azerbaijan

See also: Azerbaijan (Iran)

According to professor Tadeusz Swietochowski, "as a political or administrative unit, and indeed as a geographic notion, Azerbaijan's boundaries were changing throughout history. Its northern part, on the left bank of the Araxes River, was known at times under different names – Caucasian Albania in the pre- Islamic period, and, subsequently, Arran. From the time of ancient Media and the Achaemenid Kingdom, Azerbaijan usually shared its history with Iran". According to the same source, the term Azerbaijan was seldom used for the territory north of Araxes. ^[5] Professor Tadeusz Swietochowski also writes: What is now the Azerbaijan Republic was known as Caucasian Albania in the pre-Islamic period, and later as Arran. From the time of ancient Media (ninth to seventh centuries b.c.) and the Persian Empire (sixth to fourth centuries b.c.), Azerbaijan usually shared the history of what is now Iran. ^[6]

According to Professor Ben Fowkes: In fact, in medieval times the name 'Azarbaijan' was applied not to the area of present independent Azerbaijan but to the lands to the south of Araxes river, now part of Iran. The lands to the north west of the Araxes were known as Albania; the lands to the north east, the heart of present-day post-Soviet Azerbaijan, were known as Sharvan (or Shirwan) and Derbent^[7]

Historically the term Azerbaijan was mostly used to denote North Western Iran ^[8]. Historical sources site that the limits of Azerbaijan are between the Daylamites of Northern Persia to their east, with the Araxes River as its northernmost limit. The region north of that, which constitutes the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, went by many names, including Arran, Albania, Georgia and Shirvan. ^[9][10] Ancient and medieval scholars such as Strabo, Greco-Roman historians, Arrian, Ibn-Hawqal, Al-Muqaddasi, and Yaqut Al-Hamavi, along with texts such as the Hodud-ol-Alam and Borhan-e-Qate, attest to this.

Greco-Roman historians mentioned that Albania was the kingdom East of Armenia. Arrian, Ibn-Hawqal, and Yaqut Al-Hamavi record that the region north of the Araxes River is cited as “Albania” and south of the Araxes as “Media Atropatene”. Al-Muqaddasi divides Persia (Iran) into eight regions, showing Azerbaijan (which constitutes Iranian Azerbaijan) and Arran (which constitutes parts of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan).^[11]

According to Encyclopædia Iranica:

“

The imprecise and sometimes contradictory information given by Yaqut in the beginning of the 7th/13th century, occasionally extends Azerbaijan to the west to Erzinjan (Arzanjan). On the other hand in certain passages, he annexes to it, in addition to the steppes of Mogan, all of the province of Arran, bringing the frontier of the country up to Kor, indicating, however, that from this period the conception of Azerbaijan tended to be extended to the north and that its meaning was being rapidly transformed. [12]

”

The territory of modern Azerbaijan Republic was also referred as Azerbaijan by another mediaeval author, the Samanids chronicler Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn-i Muhammad Ibn-i Ubaidullah-i Bal'ami, the translator of At-Tabari’s Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings) also writes that Azerbaijan’s borders start from Hamadan (Iran) and end in Darband (Modern Russia, North of Azerbaijan Republic) of the Khazars. He adds that whatever is in the middle is called Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan’s original/primary border starts in Hamadan and passing through Abhar and Zanjan, end in Darband of the Khazars. All of the citites in the middle of these [two] are in Azerbaijan. ^[13]

Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, published in 1890, states the following in the artilce called "Azerbeijan":

“

Azerbeijan, or Aderbeijan — fire land; 'Atrupatkan' in Pahlavi and 'Aderbadekan' in Armenian, is the north-westernmost province and the richest trade and industrial region of Persia. It borders Persian Kurdistan and Iraq of Adjam (Media) to the south, Turkish Kurdistan and Armenia to the west, Russian Armenia (Southern Transcaucasia), from which it is separated by the Aras River, to the north, Russian province of Tashil to the east and Persian province of Gilan near the Caspian sea. [14]

”

However, the boundaries of the historical Azerbaijan like those of many other ancient regions were fluid and they periodically included parts (such as Nakhichevan or Mughan) ^{[15] [16]} or all of the territory of modern Azerbaijan republic. Some historical sources mentioned the territory of modern Azerbaijan republic as part of Armenia, Georgia or Azerbaijan. This would especially be the case if a single ruler had control over the whole area.

According to C.E. Bosworth: The influx of Oghuz and other Türkmens was accentuated by the Mongol invasions. Barda'a had never revived fully after the Rus sacking, and is little mentioned in the sources. It seems to have been replaced as the capital of Arran by Baylaqan, but this was in turn sacked by the Mongols en route for Shervan and Darband in spring 1221; after this, Ganja , the later Elizavetopol and now Kirovabd, rose to prominence, the southern part of Arran now becoming known as Qarabag. The old name Arran drops out of use, and the history and fortunes of the region now merge into those of Azerbaijan.^[17]

[edit] Azerbaijan as the name of an independent republic

Main article: Azerbaijan

With the collapse of Tsarist Russia in 1917, three major nations of the Caucasus – Armenians, Georgians and Azeris – came together to form the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in February 1918. The federation dissolved when Georgia declared its independence on May 26. With this break up, the Azerbaijani fraction of the Transcaucasian Sejm (parliament), led by Turkish Democratic Musavat Party, which was a pan Islamist and pan Turkist political party^[18][19], met in Tbilisi on May 28, 1918 to create their own state. They proclaimed independence of their country under the name of Azerbaijan. The name of the new state drew protests from some Iranians, who suspected that it was chosen with the purposes of detaching the Azerbaijan province from Iran, even though the proclamation of independence of Azerbaijan Republic limited the territory of the new state to the areas north of the Araxes river.

Mohammad Amin Rasulzade, the leader of Musavat party and, according to Thomas Goltz, a pan-Turk^[20], who lived in exile after the Soviet invasion and occupation of Azerbaijan Republic, later admitted a mistake in choosing the name Azerbaijan for the state. Rasulzade admitted in an article that he wrote that Albania (referring to Caucasian Azerbaijan) was different than Azerbaijan (referring to Iranian Azerbaijan). Also, in a letter to Seyyed Hassan Taqizadeh, an important Iranian intellectual of the early 20th century, Rasulzade declared his eagerness to do "whatever is in his power to avoid any further discontent among Iranians".^[21]

Vasily Bartold, the famous Soviet scholar wrote:

“

There is no reason to doubt that Aran was separate from Azarbaijan and that the Aras River constituted the northern border of Azarbaijan, and Aran had never been called Azerbaijan. [22]

”

The academician Barthold most clearly mentioned the Aras River as lying between Azarbaijan and Aran or the ancient Albania (present-day Republic of Azerbaijan) and:

“

The name 'Azerbaijan' was adopted because it was presumed that through the establishment of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Iranian Azarbaijan and the Azerbaijan Republic will eventually become one." Somewhere else in this same volume, Barthold wrote: "Wherever and whenever a name should be required with which one can refer to the whole region of the Azerbaijan Republic, one can use Aran[23]

”

Iranian scholars such as Sheik Mohammad Khiabani ^[24]and Seyyed Ahmad Kasravi (the latter who was an Iranian Azerbaijani was known for advocating the need for national integration of Iran on the basis of Persian and linguistic assimilation of minorities ^[25]. His history works have been used by eminent scholars like Vladimir Minorsky, Roger Savory, Richard Frye, Ali Azeri. He was granted the membership of London Royal College of Asian Studies and American Academy based on his publications.) Ahmad Kasravi protested the name change, and for a short time referred to Iranian Azerbaijan as "Azadistan", meaning "land of freedom", in retaliation. Professor Swietochowski notes "a characteristic tone of bias" when Kasravi writes:

“

Why are our Arani brothers destroying their national history and their past at the onset of their national life? This itself is an enormous loss and there is no other example of such a strange deed in history.[26]

”

Encyclopaedia Iranica also states:

“

...the historical province had been renamed Azadistan Khiabani and his followers as a gesture of protest against the giving of the name "Azerbaijan" to the part of the Caucasus centered on Baku.[27]

”

Other Iranian Azerbaijani authors, such as Ali Azari, offered a simpler explanation for the name "Azadistan": it commemorated the sacrifices that Azerbaijan had suffered in the struggles during the Constitutional Revolution.^[28].

On September 4, 1945, a new party was created in what was then Soviet Azerbaijan, the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan. It was this party that first used the terms "North Azerbaijan" and "South Azerbaijan". Their motives later became clear, as the party advocated the unification of the "two" Azerbaijan's within the Soviet Union.^[29] With further assistance from the Soviet Union, who would benefit from the situation, the terms North and South Azerbaijan were used in Turkish and Soviet texts when referring to the region.

[edit] Azerbaijani people

See also: Azerbaijani people

Historically the Turkic-speaking people of Iranian Azerbaijan and the Caucasus often called themselves or were referred to by some neighbouring peoples (e.g. Persians) as Turks, and religious identification prevailed over ethnic identification. When Transacaucasia became part of the Russian empire, Russian authorities, who traditionally called all Turkic people Tatars, called Azeris Aderbeijani/Azerbaijani or Caucasian Tatars to distinguish them from other Turkic people, also called Tatars by Russians.^[30] Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary also refers to Azerbaijanis as Aderbeijans in some articles.^[31] According to the article Turko-Tatars of the above encyclopedia, “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 type) Aderbaijans”.^[32] The modern ethnonym Azerbaijani/Azeri in its present form was accepted in 1930s.

[edit] See also

• Iran
• Azerbaijani people
• Republic of Azerbaijan
• Iranian Theory Regarding Azeri's
• Iranian Azerbaijan

[edit] References