Historical Approaches to the Issue of Etymology, Statehood
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VAKANÜVİS- Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi/ International Journal of Historical Researches, Yıl/Vol. 6, Sayı/No. 1, Bahar/Spring 2021 ISSN: 2149-9535 / 2636-7777 Historical Approaches to the Issue of Etymology, Statehood and Identity of Azerbaijan* Asim Jannatoglu Jannatov* (ORCID: 0000-0002-8394-3682) Makale Gönderim Tarihi Makale Kabul Tarihi 27.11.2020 21.03.2021 Atıf Bilgisi/Reference Information Chicago: Jannatoglu Jannatov, A, “Historical Approaches to the Issue of Etymology, Statehood and Identity of Azerbaijan”, Vakanüvis-Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6/1 (2021): 240-259. APA: Jannatoglu Jannatov, A. (2021). Historical Approaches to the Issue of Etymology, Statehood and Identity of Azerbaijan. Vakanüvis-Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6 (1) , 240-259. Abstract Azerbaijan and Iran as neighbouring countries have a very ancient history and rich culture. It is completely wrong approach to equate Azerbaijan and Iran or to consider Azerbaijan an integral part of Iran. Sometimes historians and researchers talk about these two countries separately, and sometimes they consider Azerbaijan as an integral part of Iranian geography. However, if we pay attention to the early days of history, we can see that Azerbaijan and Iran were completely different countries that were not connected. Azerbaijan was formed as geography inhabited by Turks in the early Middle Ages and was not connected to Iran. On the other hand, Iran has a more federal structure and is formed as a multinational geography. If we pay attention to * The Treaty of Turkmenchay divided the territory of Azerbaijan into Northern and Southern parts between Russia and Iran in 1828. So, the paper studies the general history of Azerbaijan until 1828 and focuses on the statehood of Northern Azerbaijan since 1828. * PhD student, Institute of Oriental Studies of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Department of South Azerbaijan, [email protected] Historical Approaches to the Issue of Etymology, Statehood and Identity of Azerbaijan 241 the etymology of the name of Azerbaijan, the history of statehood and the existing historical approaches to its identity, we can see that this country initially has not been a part of Iran and was formed as an independent state. Keywords: Azerbaijan, Iran, Azerbaijani history, etymology, statehood, identity. Azerbaycan'ın Adı, Devletçiliği Ve Kimliği Meselesine Tarihsel Yaklaşımlar Öz Azerbaycan ve İran çok eski bir tarihe ve zengin bir kültüre sahiptir. Azerbaycan ve İran'ı eşitlemek veya Azerbaycan'ı İran'ın ayrılmaz bir parçası olarak görmek tamamen yanlış bir yaklaşımdır. Bazen tarihçiler ve araştırmacılar bu iki ülkeden ayrı ayrı bahseder ve bazen Azerbaycan'ı İran coğrafyasının ayrılmaz bir parçası olarak görürler. Ancak tarihin ilk çağlarına dikkat edersek Azerbaycan ve İran'ın birbirine bağlı olmayan tamamen farklı ülkeler olduğunu görebiliriz. Azerbaycan, Orta Çağ'ın başlarında Türklerin yaşadığı bir coğrafya olarak kurulmuş ve İran'a bağlı değildi. İran ise daha federal bir yapıya sahip ve çok uluslu bir coğrafya olarak şekillenmiştir. Azerbaycan isminin etimolojisine, devlet tarihine ve kimliğine yönelik mevcut tarihsel yaklaşımlara dikkat edersek, bu ülkenin İran'ın bir parçası olmadığını ve bağımsız bir devlet olarak kurulduğunu görebiliriz. Anahtar Kelimeler: Azerbaycan, İran, Azerbaycan tarihi, etimoloji, devletçilik, kimlik. Introduction The form of government in most of the states and empires existed in the East was almost same. The value that unites these states, which are represented by different peoples, is that they are dynastic states and are mostly mentioned in the sources by the names of dynasties. For this reason, in some cases, the states that existed in the East in the Middle Ages are named after dynasties in modern historiography. With the emergence and spread of Islam, a very large Islamic geography was created, including Azerbaijan. Some of the states that exist in the Islamic East today have also nationalized the names that emerged in the Islamic era. It should be noted that the name of Azerbaijan took a new shape with the emergence of Islam. Asim Jannatoglu Jannatov 242 It would be appropriate to give a brief introduction about the etymology and history of the name of Iran before talking about the etymology of the name of Azerbaijan and the history of statehood. There are also speculations that the name of Iran appeared during the Sassanid period and was derived from the name "Eran". The fact that the name Iran is derived from Eran is closer to reality. Thus, one of the Turkish researchers, Metin Erendor, draws attention to the term Eran, which is derived from the Iranian name, and notes that the term was found in a written monument next to the emblem depicting the coronation of the Sassanid Shah Ardashir I in Naqsh-i Rustam, Iran.1 In that historical period, the name of Iran did not officially represent the name of any state and did not have a national meaning. This issue is also reflected in the Western scientific literature, and one of the approaches states that in the time of Ardeshir I, the term Eran meant people living in this region more than the state.2 Thus, the Sassanid state, founded in the third century, was a large empire for some time and managed to unite today's Iran and South Azerbaijan, part of Turkestan, Anatolia, Iraq and some areas inhabited by Arabs. However, there was an independent statehood in both the north (in the example of Albania) and the south (in the example of Atropatene) of today's Azerbaijan in the pre-Sassanid historical period. Persian rule in Iran is characterized by the Achaemenids before Christ and the Sassanids after Christ. The Sassanid state, which emerged in the third century and became a great empire, was occupied by the Arab caliphate in the seventh century. After that, the Persian rule in Iran suspended until 1925. After the weakening of the Abbasid Caliphate from the end of the tenth century, Iran was ruled for a thousand years by Turkic dynasties from Central Asia or Turkestan.3 The people were united on the basis of religious identity, and Iran, as usual, had a geographical meaning during the millennium of Turkic rule in Iran, which began with the Qaznavids. The independent statehood in the historical lands of Azerbaijan began with the establishment of the Mannea state in the IX century 1 Metin Erendor, İranda Türk Kimliği, Kamer Yayınları, İstanbul 2018, p. 34. 2 David Niel Mackenzie, “Eran, Eransahr”, Encyclopedia Iranica, 1998. 3 Ahmet Ağaoğlu, İran ve İnkılabı, Zerbamat Basımevi, Ankara 1941, p. 11. Historical Approaches to the Issue of Etymology, Statehood and Identity of Azerbaijan 243 BC. Immediately after the fall of the empire of Alexander the Great, in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC, Albania and Atropatene were established in what is now northern Azerbaijan and southern Azerbaijan. To this day, there are biased opinions in the scientific literature about the ethnic composition of these states. After the Arab conquest of Sassanid lands and Albania in the second half of the 7th century and the beginning of the 8th century, the lands of Atropatene and Albania, were united into a single administrative division. After that, these lands were called Azerbaijan, and on the eve of the beginning of a strong people's movement against the Arab occupation in Azerbaijan in the ninth century, the traditions of independent statehood were restored and lasted for hundreds of years. The common history of the peoples of Azerbaijan and Persia began with the establishment of a new kingdom by Shah Ismail I in Tabriz, the cultural center of Azerbaijan at the beginning of the 16th century. The Iranian throne gradually replaced the throne of Azerbaijan after Shah Abbas came to power. Among the factors influencing this issue were the occupation of Azerbaijan by the Ottomans and involvement of Persian elements in the palace and benefit from their power by Shah Abbas. After that, both Azerbaijan and Persia became two of the four most important provinces of Iran, which have a geographical meaning. The administrative division of Iran remained unchanged during the Safavids, Afshars and Qajars. At the same time, the first attempt to build a state on a national basis in the geography of Iran was made again in Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is completely wrong to confuse the names of Iran and Azerbaijan or to consider Azerbaijan an integral part of Iran. If we look at the different approaches to the roots of the name of Azerbaijan and the history of statehood, we can observe this fact. Historical approaches to the etymology of the name of Azerbaijan Historians have not yet expressed a unit opinion about the name of Azerbaijan. Historically, there were tribes, tribal associations and states with different names in the lands of Azerbaijan. Although it is believed that the first state in Azerbaijan was Mannea, sometimes Media is included here. Media consisted of two parts - Greater and Minor Media. The state of Atropatene also included Minor Media. Asim Jannatoglu Jannatov 244 After the fall of the empire of Alexander the Great, the states called Albania and Atropatene were established in the lands of historical Azerbaijan. Albania covered the territory of present-day Northern Azerbaijan and Atropatene, the territory of Southern Azerbaijan. The geographical map of Azerbaijan was originally created over Atropatene and Albania. Of course, the origin of the name of Azerbaijan is one of the issues of interest in the science of history. The scientific literature is dominated by the idea that the name of Azerbaijan is derived from Atropatene. The ancient Greek historian Strabo, who gave the first information about Atropatene, said that the name Atropatene was derived from the name of Atropates, the head of the country of Minor Mada/Media.4 Atropates (not a personal name, but a religious position - meaning "guardian of fire" and the name of the highest-ranking priest in the fire-worshiping temple) was a well-known commander in the Achaemenid period and later in Alexander's time was appointed as a satrap in the lands of today’s Southern Azerbaijan.