The ethnic composition and political situation of Zangezur - the historical land of Azerbaijan - at the end of the 19th century and in the 20s of the 20th century

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The ethnic composition and political situation of Zangezur - the historical land of Azerbaijan - at the end of the 19th century and in the 20s of the 20th century

Asadov Kamran Alim

Ph.D. Student, Azerbaijan National Academy of Science

Abstract

Historical sources and the writings of various travelers indicate that Zangezur was the ancient homeland of the Turks. The large number of toponymic names of Turkish origin in Zangezur also confirms this idea.

The history of Azerbaijan in the 20th century is remembered by the threats against the ethnic unity, territorial integrity, and statehood tradition of the Azerbaijani people. According to the historical circumstances, the deportations and violent territorial cleansing directed against the Azerbaijani people were different in form, but the content was the same.

In the conclusion, it is noted that, in addition to the most ancient historical sources, research conducted by by many world scientists, show that the Albanian state of Zangezur in the 4th-9th centuries, then the Sasanian Empire and the Arab Caliphate, the ancient Azerbaijani states that won the wars against the Arab Caliphate in the 9th-11th centuries. - in those territories, the Saji, Salari and Rabbidites, who for centuries were in power under different names, at the beginning of the XII-XIII centuries. - Atabay, in the XIII-XIV centuries. Hulaku, in the 14th century - Jalairi, then the states of Karagoyunlu and Aggoyunlu, at the beginning of the 16th century - the powerful state of the Safavids, XVIII century, all this confirms that in the 20s of the XIX century it was part of the Karabakh Khanate.

Keywords: Zangezur, Turkish land, Karabakh, ethnic cleansing, Zangezur corridor

Етнічний склад і політичне становище Зангезуру - історичної землі Азербайджану - наприкінці ХІХ - у 20-х рр. ХХ ст.

Асадов Камран, Національна академія наук Азербайджану (Баку, Азербайджан)

Анотація

Історичні джерела і записи різних мандрівників свідчать про те, що Зангезур був давньою батьківщиною тюрків. Велика кількість топонімічних назв турецького походження в Зангезурі також підтверджує цю думку.

Історія Азербайджану 20-го століття запам'ятовується загрозами етнічній єдності, територіальній цілісності та традиціям державності азербайджанського народу. Згідно з історичними обставинами, депортації та насильницькі територіальні очищення, спрямовані проти азербайджанського народу, були різними за формою, але змістом однаковим.

У висновку зазначається, що окрім найдавніших історичних джерел, дослідження, проведені багатьма вченими світу, свідчать, що албанська держава Зангезур у 4-9 століттях, потім Сасанідська імперія та Арабський халіфат, стародавні азербайджанські держави, які перемагали у війнах проти Арабський халіфат у 9-11 ст. - на тих територіях саджі, саларі та раббідити, які століттями перебували при владі під різними іменами, на початку Хіі-ХІІІ ст. - Атабай, у ХІІІ-XIV ст. Хулаку, в 14 столітті - Джалаїрі, потім держави Карагоюнлу і Аггоюнлу, на початку 16 століття - могутня держава Сефевідів, XVIII століття, все це підтверджує, що в 20-х роках XIX століття воно входило до складу Карабахське ханство.

Ключові слова: Зангезур, турецька земля, Карабах, етнічні чистки, Зангезурський коридор

Introduction

On January 31, 1997, the founder of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the national leader Heydar Aliyev, in a meeting with the leading scientists and heads of institutes of Azerbaijan EA, set the task of objectively and honestly rewriting the history of the people of Azerbaijan in the 19th and 20th centuries before the science of national history. The main purpose of raising the issue at this level was to reveal all the dark pages of the difficult history of the Azerbaijani people during the last two centuries, first of all, to the people of Azerbaijan, but also to the world community (ARDA, f 894). On December 18, 1997, signed by the great leader "On the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical and ethnic lands in the territory of the Armenian SSR in 1948-1953" and "On the genocide of Azerbaijanis" signed on March 26, 1998, decrees provided a legal basis for historical research (ARDA, f.970). The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, always emphasizes the Zangezur problem when he talks about issues related to the study of the history of Azerbaijan (The 1918 genocide, 2011).

Results

ethnic political zangezur

The history of Azerbaijan in the 20th century is remembered by the threats against the ethnic unity, territorial integrity, and statehood tradition of the Azerbaijani people. According to the historical circumstances, the deportations and violent territorial cleansing directed against the Azerbaijani people were different in form, but the content was the same.

Behind the historical tragedies of the Azerbaijani people in the 19th century are Russia's Caucasian policy and the invented "Armenian issue". At the beginning of the 20th century, the "Armenian issue" entered a new stage. This issue is transferred from Ottoman Turkey to South Caucasus. With this, the historical tragedy of the lands belonging to Azerbaijani Turks in the South Caucasus begins.

On April 15, 2015, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in his speech at the official meeting dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the granting of autonomy to Nakhchivan within the Azerbaijan SSR, said: "... Zangezur, the ancestral land of Azerbaijan, was torn from Azerbaijan and given to Armenia. This was a historical injustice. Because Zangezur was the eternal and ancient land of Azerbaijan... But I believe that one day our lands under Armenian occupation, including Zangezur, will return to their ancient and true homeland - Azerbaijan." The historical day that the people of Azerbaijan have been waiting for has come (Memories of Nagi Sheikhzamanli, 2007).

On September 27, 2020 - November 10, 2020, during the 44-day Patriotic War, our Glorious Army under the command of Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev freed our lands that had been occupied by the enemy for nearly 30 years. The next target is the opening of Zangezur corridor, the Eurasian Turkish line (Narimanoglu, 2012).

One of the territories belonging to the Azerbaijani Turks in the South Caucasus, which became a victim of the fictitious "Armenian issue", is Zangezur district. After Dashnaksutyun's party moved its activities from the territory of Turkey to the territory of the South Caucasus, the main Azerbaijani territory they targeted was Karabakh and Zangezur region. Since Azerbaijani villages are surrounded by Armenian villages in Zangezur district, the most dangerous situation has arisen here. Since Zangezur district is located between Karabakh and Nakhchivan, it was of geopolitical and geostrategic importance. On the other hand, Zangezur district was considered a strategic area for the Russian state because of its border contact with the states of Iran and Turkey. The unique features of the Zangezur accident have always made it necessary for the history of this accident to be the subject of scientific research (ARDA, f 894).

Despite all this, Zangezur, like a number of historical territories of Azerbaijan, has been one of the main targets of Armenian claims. The groundlessness of Armenian claims is sufficiently reflected in historical documents, and can be confirmed through toponymic, ethno-linguistic, and anthropological approaches. It is clear from the expressions "zangi" and "zur", which are part of the Zangezur toponym, that Zangi is a word of Turkish origin and is related to the name of the generation of Zangelis of Turkish origin. F. Sumer writes: "Algerian and Syrian judges, the Tengis, were also from the Turkish Mamluk family." Mamluk Turks in Arab countries are Kipchak tribes. So, the Zangi are one of the Kipchak tribes. "Zur" at the end of the toponym is a phonetic variant of the Turkish word car (zar>zur -), which means "valley", "ravine" (Ismailov, 2015).

Zangezur was the main center of wars against the Arabs during the period of Javidan, Javanshir, and Babek, and was the place of bloody battles that lasted for more than 30 years. The most famous temples of fire worship were in these places. The Arabs moved in the direction of Southern Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan-Bichenak-Gorus- Lachin-Barda and conquered Northern Azerbaijan, which was called Alban and Arran at that time (Nabibeyli, 2011).

Like other lands of Azerbaijan, the Turkic- Muslim population of Zangezur was always a target of the Ottomans because they were the subjects of the Safavid Shah for the Ottomans. In order to get rid of possible persecutions, the Turkish-Muslim population of Zangezur saw the only way out was to leave their places, and therefore, when the description of Zangezur's districts was being prepared, the Azerbaijani villages of this land were recorded as uninhabited places. If we take into account that Armenians live in only four out of 94 villages of Zangezur districts, in the 16th century, almost the majority of the population of this land consisted of Turkish-Muslim population, and Armenians began to migrate and spread to these places masse from the middle of the 17th century. Thus, Armenians registered in four villages in 1593 lived in 18 villages of Zangezur according to the "Detailed Book of the Nakhchivan Council" compiled in 1727. In addition to the above- mentioned villages, in 1727, Armenians settled in the villages of Uz, Kyzylca, Talibabad, Arikli, Pul, Galacik, Ortagir, Benis, Dasdgird, Sheki, Kivas, Galat, Sankar and Berdi in Zangezur. One more example. At the end of the 16th century, while there were no Armenians living in the Barghushad district, which was subject to the Gapan district, in 1727, 52 Armenian families moved to this district, which was part of the Ganja-Karabakh province (Narimanoglu, 2012).

In my opinion, the Armenians settled here are not the local population, when the Armenians who were transferred by Shah Abbas I to the inner provinces of Iran were allowed to return again and again, they were Armenians who settled in the districts of Nakhchivan and Zangezur, not in the areas bordering Eastern Anatolia. Such resettlement policy was implemented as a combat tactic in the wars of that time. Thus, the attacking Ottoman soldiers saw the territory they occupied empty and saw the impossibility of providing food, and fodder to strengthen there and returned back. It was Shah Abbas I who moved the population of these areas to the vicinity of Ardabil and burned their houses, gardens, and farmlands in order not to give the lands to the Ottoman occupation. According to the "Compendium of Irevan province" compiled in 1728, there were serious changes in the land ownership of the villages of Zangezur and all of them belonged to the sultan's estates (The 1918 genocide, 2011).

The Ottoman state, which was defeated in World War I, signed the Mudros Agreement with England on October 30, 1918. According to the agreement of the Allies, General Thomson, the commander of the British military forces in Anzali port of Iran at that time, was ordered to capture Baku. First, at the request of the British general, the Ottoman and Azerbaijani military forces left Baku. On November 17, 1918, British military forces entered Baku. The British governor-general headed by Thomson was established. The city of Baku and its oil fields came under the control of the British. His first order was to lower the Azerbaijani flag. Thomson, who considered Baku to be a Russian city, created an occupation regime here, controlled the police, the port, the oil industry, financial offices, and the press. British Minister of War Churchill said at a conference on the Caucasus on March 6, 1919: "There is no doubt that the future government of Russia will return to this region again, what is happening at the moment of pause is not the main problem, but British troops the longer he stays in those areas, the deeper our claw will go".

After the October revolution in Russia in 1917, it is enough to remember the foresight of the author of the "March of 14 States" plan against the Bolsheviks, the power of British diplomacy, the arrival of the BP company to Azerbaijan-Caspian region, and its activities and profits. Armenians welcomed the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I and the victory of the Entente as a wedding-festival. They assumed that the Peace of Mudros (October 30, 1918) would play an important role in the realization of their territorial claims. According to that truce, Turkish troops had to withdraw from the Caucasus and withdraw to the Russian-Turkish borders of 1914. The departure of Turkish troops from Azerbaijan in 1918 opened Andranik's hand again. "Dashnaks were the agents of America who started entering Transcaucasia from Armenia. The idea of "Greater Armenia" should have made it easier for the United States to capture the entire Caucasus..." (Oriental Peoples Magazine, 1926).

Azerbaijan, which had just declared its independence, faced a serious threat again. The Azerbaijani government, which did not have its own national military units, had no opportunity to offer military resistance to the British troops. Regarding the situation, M. A. Rasulzadeh wrote: "The Turkish army was withdrawn, and there were no Azerbaijani military units... Even if Farzan had a force, it was of course unthinkable for Azerbaijan to open a war against a force that Germany and Turkey had surrendered. Therefore, the issue would be resolved only through diplomatic means".

The Gulustan and Turkmenchay treaties signed between Russia and the Gajars marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Zangezur. According to these agreements, which divided Azerbaijan into two, the Araz River became the new border between Russia and the kingdom of the Khajars. Until 1822, the lands of Zangezur were part of the Karabakh Khanate, then of the Karabakh province (until 1841), in the 50s and 60s of the Shamakhi, Baku and Iravan governorates, the Karabakh district of the Khazar province, and then the Shusha district of the Shamakhi province. Since the approval of the project on the new structure of the administrative, judicial, and territorial divisions of the South Caucasian region, in 1861 Zangezur province was established, and on February 25, 1868, Yelizavetpol governorate was created at the expense of Tiflis, Baku and Iravan governorates.

137.22 sq.m. Zangezur district, covering an area of 100,000 km, was included in this new governorate. It was bordered by Jabrayil and Shusha districts from the east and northeast, Javanshir from the north, Sharur-Darelayaz and Nakhchivan districts of Yerevan governorate from the west and southwest, Araz river from the south and southeast. The district was divided into four districts: Hajisamli, Alyanli, Barghushad and Hekari districts.4 There were hundreds of springs, small lakes, rivers, and rich mineral water resources in the Zangezur region. Bargushad, Hekari, Chavundurchay, Basikchay, Okchuchay, Agachay, Mehri rivers were the largest water sources of the district. 5 According to the data of 1908, 40 industrial enterprises were operating in the district, the total annual production of which was equal to 74,160 rubles. 1339 workers worked in these 40 enterprises. In industrial enterprises, 23 were wine- vodka, 10 oil, 2 pottery and 4 Egyptian. The largest number of workers worked in the latter - 1200 people. About 40.7% of workers (2950 people in total) working in the field of gubernia sugar industry fell to the share of Zangezur district. Nomadic cattle breeding, cocoon farming, agriculture, crafts, horticulture, horticulture, and carpet making were the main places in the household and economic life of the population of the region. More than half a million (559,649 heads) of the 3 million head of cattle kept in the Yelizavetpol governorate belonged to Zangezur district alone. All areas of the region's economy were subordinated to the service of the empire's colonial interests. The social-class composition of the village population in Zangezur was also diverse.

In Muslim villages, 261 bey families (1524 people) and 70 Armenian landlord families were registered. Throughout history, the Armenian church has stood in front of the realization of Armenian political claims. In the 80s of the 19th century, 46 churches and 25 Armenian- Gregorian chapels were operating in Zangezur. In the mid-80s of the XIX century, only 4 secular village schools were operating in Zangezur district, with a total of 209 students. There were only 40 Azerbaijanis among the students (ARDA, f.970).

According to the population census of 1886, 53.3% of Zangezur district were Azerbaijanis, 46.3% were Armenians (f.897, p2, work1, v 3-4). Azerbaijani Turks lived in 154 of Gaza's 326 villages (45.7%), Kurds in 91 (27.8%), Armenians in 81 (24.8%). According to the 1897 census, 137,871 people lived in Zangezur, of which 63,622 (46.1%) were Armenians, 71,206 (51.6%) were Azerbaijanis, and 1,807 were Kurds (1.3%). According to the population census of Yelizavetpol governorate in 1901, out of 294,753 people of Zangezur district, 197,066 people (67%) were Muslims, 97,204 people (32.9%) were Armenian-Gregorian, and 483 people (0.1%) belonged to other religions (Nabibeyli, 2011).

After the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchai, the territory of the historical Azerbaijani lands was divided between Gajar Iran and Tsarist Russia, its northern territories were included in the Russian Empire.2 During the years 18281917, the transfer of Germans, Armenians, and Russian sectarians to the territories of Northern Azerbaijan occupied by Tsarist Russia policy was implemented. A new administrative territorial unit named "Armenian province" was created by the order of Tsar Nicholas I in the territories of Iravan and Nakhchivan khanates occupied by tsarist Russia in 1827, aiming to permanently strengthen in the South Caucasus region. The main purpose of creating such an administrative unit was to change the ethnic landscape of the region at the expense of Armenians and other non-Muslim population who were transferred from Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire to the territories of Iravan, Nakhchivan, and Karabakh khanates of occupied Northern Azerbaijan. Among the territories where Armenians were relocated, there was Zangezur district, which formed the southwestern part of the Karabakh Khanate. Zangezur district occupies a special place due to its natural, geographical and military strategic position. After the occupation of Northern Azerbaijanby Soviet Russia on April 28, 1920, the western part of the Zangezur district was forcibly taken away from the Turkic world, including the western part of it, against the will of the Azerbaijani people, and given to the Armenian SSR in order to build a barrier between Turkey and Azerbaijan. 4 1828-1917 As a result of the policy of planned deportation, ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out by Tsarist Russia, Bolshevik Russia in 19211922, and the USSR state in 1988-1991, Zangezur region was completely cleared of the Azerbaijani population (Memories of Nagi Sheikhzamanli, 2007).

In addition to being the main screenwriter, director, and performer of all the processes that took place in the region until the return of Bolshevik Russia to the Caucasus on April 28, 1920, the British were the first to draw the borders of the lands to be taken from Azerbaijan and given to Armenia. General Thomson's dialogues with the leaders of the Armenian government, Khatisov and Tigranyan, also indicate many issues. In his speech at the meeting of the Armenian government in Yerevan on March 28, 1919, he said: "... Zangezur will be governed by the Armenian National Council... Armenia must urgently give its representatives to manage Nagorno-Karabakh... Armenia should join Kars and Nakhchivan, Sharur can capture Daraleyaz-Surmeli... The Azerbaijani army will not move in this direction from where it is now - Aghdam and Khankendi... At the meeting of the Azerbaijani government held on March 19, it was decided that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will send 1,300 infantry and 500 Armenian cavalry units to Shusha, Khankendi, will make all-out efforts to pass through Askaran and go to Armenia. Major Monk Mezon informed me that the Azerbaijani military units under the leadership of General Mehmandarov have taken all measures for their safe passage... Azerbaijan will expect Nagorno-Karabakh and Zangezur to be resolved at the Paris peace conference as disputed territories" (Narimanoglu, 2014).

Thomson promised to send 5 million cartridges and money to the leaders of the Armenian government, and he fulfilled his promise. US President V Wilson's kind attitude towards Armenians also played an important role in the events. "The Dashnak army was eating American bread. The United States gave Armenia 50,000, England 40,000, and France 30,000 soldiers with clothing, food, ammunition, and 10 million cartridges" (History of the Civil War, 1922). 4 days after this meeting - on April 2, a congress of Zangezur Armenians was held in Gorus and a decision was made: "Azerbaijan's attempts to capture Zangezur, which is part of Armenia, should be answered with weapons."

By the decision of the congress, Bishop Vahan and member of the Armenian National Council Bahadurov came to Baku to meet General Thomson, the chief representative of the Allied Powers in the Caucasus, and gave him the following demands of the Karabakh Armenians: the immediate annexation of Karabakh to Armenia or the annexation of Karabakh to Armenia until the Paris peace conference; The organization of the local Armenian administration in Karabakh and the establishment of the British Governor-General in Karabakh... For the sake of historical justice, it should be said that the politician who fought most principledly and consistently against the British policy in the AKP government was Khosrov bey Sultanov, the first military minister of the AKP and the governor-general of Karabakh (Nabibeyli, (2011). He constantly informed the AKP Parliament and Government with facts and evidence that all the activities of the British were for the benefit of the Armenians, and that the British policy was aimed at separating Zangezur and Karabakh from Azerbaijan. Zangezur accident was completely destroyed with the cannons, machine guns, and ammunition given to the Armenians by the British, and it is also reported that the body of a British soldier was among the dead on the battlefield of the ten thousand regular Armenian army that took part in the fighting. Many facts are known that generals Andronik, Dro and Njde, who drowned Zangezur in blood, were also "British spies", received instructions from them, and fought against the Russians on the instructions of the British (10). Regarding the countless massacres of the Armenian military units in Zangezur, the requests and notes of the AKP Government to Ganja, Baku, Tbilisi, American, British, French, and Italian military and diplomatic mission heads in the Caucasus, General Wodropa, Colonel Rayo, Colonel Nonakura, Colonel Gabbai. The fruitless statements are proof of this.

Conclusions

In addition to the most ancient historical sources, research conducted by many world scientists show that the Albanian state of Zangezur in the 4th-9th centuries, then the Sasanian Empire and the Arab Caliphate, the ancient Azerbaijani states that won the wars against the Arab Caliphate in the 9th-11th centuries. - in those territories, the Saji, Salari and Rabbidites, who for centuries were in power under different names, at the beginning of the XII-XIII centuries. - Atabay, in the XIII-XIV centuries. Hulaku, in the 14th century - Jalairi, then the states of Karagoyunlu and Aggoyunlu, at the beginning of the 16th century - the powerful state of the Safavids, XVIII century, all this confirms that in the 20s of the XIX century it was part of the Karabakh Khanate.In other studies, investigating the history of Zangezur, historical documents and facts prove that 115 Muslim villages of Zangezur, which were attacked by armed Armenian gangs in 1905-1907 and 1918-1920, were looted, burned and wiped out, and 4,472 women and children were killed by Armenian armed forces with particular cruelty.

On August 10, 1920, by the decision of the Caucasian Bureau of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party, Zangezur was declared a "disputed territory" between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but not a single Azerbaijani took part in the decision making. Thus, the Central Committee of the Communist (Bolshevik) Party of Azerbaijan by the decision of the meeting held on November 30, 1920, Zangezur - is included in Soviet Armenia.

As a result, the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan is separated from the territory of the country, and thus Azerbaijan's land connections with Turkey, as well as with the entire Turkic world, are cut off.

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