Events of 1918 in Quba. Part 1

By 1918pogroms.com

Killing people on the basis of ethnicity cannot be justified by anything, but it is even more frightening when people die during ethnic cleansing just because they are ethnically close to those who are considered to be the culprits of the killer’s troubles.The events of 1918 on the entire territory of Azerbaijan are described as ethnic cleansing by historians, who say that the riots were part of ambitious plans of nationalists, who were seeking to maximize the reduction in the number of Muslim population in all regions of Azerbaijan. However, it is not entirely clear why the Armenian massacres of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire became the basis for the ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis in 1918.

The Azerbaijanis who were living in the Russian Empire (and other Turkic peoples - Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Turkmens, Gagauz, Karachai) had a very indirect relationship to the Turks living in the Ottoman Empire.

In the struggle for the throne of the "oil kingdom" of Baku, the Baku Bolshevik leader Stepan Shaumyan (Lalayants) found support from the radical Dashnaks and Armenian combat units stationed in Baku, which were evacuated from the front and fought on the side of the Entente for the towns and villages of Turkey, who were dreaming of revenge.

The involvement of the struggle for power of the national democratic party Musavat turned the battle into massacres of Azerbaijani civilians, who had nothing against the Armenians, living peacefully with them for many years on the same land. In March 1918 Azerbaijanis were eliminated merely because they ethnically belonged to the family of Turkic peoples, although they had their own history, different from the history of the Ottoman Turks.

It was then that the ideology of the hostile policy of Armenians against Azerbaijanis started, which is based on the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Today, Armenia is seeking recognition of the events in 1915 as genocide.

Thus, in freedom-loving France, where cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and Christ are considered the sacred right of the individual, and the right of freedom of expression,there was an attempt in late 2011 to pass a law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide with a fine of 45,000 euros and imprisonment for one year.

It is not clear how condemnation of the evil committed in 1915 on the territory of the Ottoman Empire can explain the claim on present-day Azerbaijani territory, since the events of a century ago can explain the actions of Armenia’s recent history - the Khojaly tragedy, and the occupation of Karabakh.

Nevertheless it happens, and is probably inspired by those who think about their own political and economic capital, forgetting about the interests of their own people and their nearest neighbors. For most of these people Armenia is their historic homeland, but the Armenian Diaspora is not much concerned about the fact that this kind of policy leads to hostile relations with two (Turkey, Azerbaijan) of the four neighbors of Armenia.

Nevertheless, today Armenia finds itself in an economic impasse, and people are forced to leave the country. Recently, the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, called the attempts to continue the search for enemies as an anti-Armenian policy, urging to abandon the idea of ​​creating a 'Greater Armenia'.

Indeed, the policy of mutually beneficial cooperation with its neighbors, will sooner or later make the Caucasus a prosperous land.

As an act of condemnation of the policy of hostility, as an example of the consequences of revenge, as well as the disclosure of objective facts, Vestnik Kavkaza is publishing materials about the March events of 1918, prepared by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry to investigate instances of violence, riots and looting in Transcaucasia from the period of the First World War.

Vestnik Kavkaza provides the historical documents without any changes, but urges readers not to take the frequently used word "Armenians" as a general quality. We are talking only about the people of Armenian origin who were participants in those events, and the majority of this nationality were themselves hostages of the situation.

 

 

“… I report to the Extraordinary Investigating Commission that in the first district of the town of Quba there are no people who have been injured by Armenian bandits and there cannot be any, as they were shooting skillfully, and instead of one bullet, they shot 40-50 bullets. Moreover, they slaughtered people with knives and guns, and after their deaths, they disfigured corpses.”These lines from the report by the police officer of the first district of Quba (1) are one of hundreds of pieces of evidence about the bloody events in April-May 1918 in Quba and villages in Quba province. What was the guilt of the population of this region of Azerbaijan, which had had a multinational character? Together with Azerbaijani Turks, who were the majority there, Lezgins, Tats, Jews, Russians, Armenians and other nations lived there. And good neighborly relations between representatives of various ethnic and religious groups had been maintained for centuries. Moreover, the number of the local Armenian population in Quba was about ‘500 people’ (2); and its activeness wasn’t high in comparison with the populations in Baku, Shemakha, and Krabakh. Before answering the question, we should study the history of the land and the events which preceded the bloody tragedy in spring 1918.***Quba was mentioned in history in different forms in ancient Albani, Arab, Persian and Turkish sources, in various works by European geographers and travelers, as the town’s roots began to grow in the Middle Ages. The geographical territory which was called Quba – the name of the town situated in the center of it – spread from the northeastern spurs of the Great Cacasus Mountains to the Samuro-Divichinskaya Gorge. The name ‘Quba’ itself was a more ancient geographical notion – its territory ‘spread from Mongolia to the center of Russia, covering the Caspian territories, as well as Shirvan and the North Caucasus.’ (3) There are many different and mutually exclusive interpretations of the appearance of the place-name, including theories on the origin of the name of the town of Quba in Azerbaijan. The most realistic are the following:The first mosque which was built near Mecca by Prophet Muhammad was called Quba. A fortress which was built in the 10th century by the tsar of Azerbaijan Anushirevan on the territory of modern Quba was called ‘Bade Firuz-Qubad.’ It was named after the Sasanid tsar Qubad I. “It was mentioned by an Arab historian Masudi (943): “There is much information… on wonderful constructions which have been built by Qubad ibn Firuz, father of Hisra Anushirvan, in the place called Maskar. The constructions are a stone city…” Speaking about Maskat, the author seems to mean the territory of Quba and the town of Firuz-Qubad, i.e. modern Quba, the name of which hints at the name of its founder, the Sasanid tsar Qubad I, the son of Firuz (488-532),” a well-known Azerbaijani scientist S. Ashurbeili wrote. Connecting these facts, he concludes that the name of Quba is one of similar place-names, which was brought in the 7th century by Arab tribes, natives from the town of Quba which was situated near Medina, during Azerbaijan and Dagestan’s conquest by the caliphate.“The big area of spreading the name on the territory which was conquered by the Arab caliphate proved the theory, as well as another message by Sain el-Abidin Shirvani (19th century) who described Quba: “… In ancient times one of the Arab tribes moved to Quba and stayed there.” The Arabs who settled in Firuz-Qubada heard the name, which sounded similar to a town near Medina, and they began to call it Quba, as well as Maskat.” (4) There are also theories that place-names with components ‘quba’ and ‘quva’ which appeared in the 12th century and were widely spread in various territories of modern Azerbaijan, the North Caucasus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Altay Territory reflected some Turkic ethnonym. For instance, a Kyrgyz tribe which was named ‘Quba’ was thought to be Kypchak in its origin. (5) Since the 12th century, the name of Quba could be encountered in many Arab sources: in the geographical vocabulary of the Arab scientist Hamavi (13th century) Quba was mentioned among the towns of Azerbaijan; Sefevid archive materials of the 16th century mentioned the land of Gubba; in other sources the town is called Gubbe. It is thought that the foundations of modern Quba were laid in the 14th century. 

“… I report to the Extraordinary Investigating Commission that in the first district of the town of Quba there are no people who have been injured by Armenian bandits and there cannot be any, as they were shooting skillfully, and instead of one bullet, they shot 40-50 bullets. Moreover, they slaughtered people with knives and guns, and after their deaths, they disfigured corpses.”

These lines from the report by the police officer of the first district of Quba (1) are one of hundreds of pieces of evidence about the bloody events in April-May 1918 in Quba and villages in Quba province. What was the guilt of the population of this region of Azerbaijan, which had had a multinational character? Together with Azerbaijani Turks, who were the majority there, Lezgins, Tats, Jews, Russians, Armenians and other nations lived there. And good neighborly relations between representatives of various ethnic and religious groups had been maintained for centuries. Moreover, the number of the local Armenian population in Quba was about ‘500 people’ (2); and its activeness wasn’t high in comparison with the populations in Baku, Shemakha, and Krabakh. Before answering the question, we should study the history of the land and the events which preceded the bloody tragedy in spring 1918.

***

Quba was mentioned in history in different forms in ancient Albani, Arab, Persian and Turkish sources, in various works by European geographers and travelers, as the town’s roots began to grow in the Middle Ages. The geographical territory which was called Quba – the name of the town situated in the center of it – spread from the northeastern spurs of the Great Cacasus Mountains to the Samuro-Divichinskaya Gorge. The name ‘Quba’ itself was a more ancient geographical notion – its territory ‘spread from Mongolia to the center of Russia, covering the Caspian territories, as well as Shirvan and the North Caucasus.’ (3) There are many different and mutually exclusive interpretations of the appearance of the place-name, including theories on the origin of the name of the town of Quba in Azerbaijan. The most realistic are the following:

The first mosque which was built near Mecca by Prophet Muhammad was called Quba. A fortress which was built in the 10th century by the tsar of Azerbaijan Anushirevan on the territory of modern Quba was called ‘Bade Firuz-Qubad.’ It was named after the Sasanid tsar Qubad I. “It was mentioned by an Arab historian Masudi (943): “There is much information… on wonderful constructions which have been built by Qubad ibn Firuz, father of Hisra Anushirvan, in the place called Maskar. The constructions are a stone city…” Speaking about Maskat, the author seems to mean the territory of Quba and the town of Firuz-Qubad, i.e. modern Quba, the name of which hints at the name of its founder, the Sasanid tsar Qubad I, the son of Firuz (488-532),” a well-known Azerbaijani scientist S. Ashurbeili wrote. Connecting these facts, he concludes that the name of Quba is one of similar place-names, which was brought in the 7th century by Arab tribes, natives from the town of Quba which was situated near Medina, during Azerbaijan and Dagestan’s conquest by the caliphate.

“The big area of spreading the name on the territory which was conquered by the Arab caliphate proved the theory, as well as another message by Sain el-Abidin Shirvani (19th century) who described Quba: “… In ancient times one of the Arab tribes moved to Quba and stayed there.” The Arabs who settled in Firuz-Qubada heard the name, which sounded similar to a town near Medina, and they began to call it Quba, as well as Maskat.” (4) There are also theories that place-names with components ‘quba’ and ‘quva’ which appeared in the 12th century and were widely spread in various territories of modern Azerbaijan, the North Caucasus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Altay Territory reflected some Turkic ethnonym. For instance, a Kyrgyz tribe which was named ‘Quba’ was thought to be Kypchak in its origin. (5) Since the 12th century, the name of Quba could be encountered in many Arab sources: in the geographical vocabulary of the Arab scientist Hamavi (13th century) Quba was mentioned among the towns of Azerbaijan; Sefevid archive materials of the 16th century mentioned the land of Gubba; in other sources the town is called Gubbe. It is thought that the foundations of modern Quba were laid in the 14th century. 

 

“However, A.A. Bakikhanov says that he saw the beautiful tomb of Shirvanshah Kavus I (died in 774 / 1373), which gives rise to speculations that there used to be a qasaba or a city here in ancient times or in the 14th century. A subsequent source of the 16th century, in the locals’ words, says that “Quba is a fortress on the slope of a mountain long destroyed. The name Quba at that time (in 1582) relates to a district (nahija) with numerous villages. Thus, the name Quba remained until the 16th century. At that moment, a district named Quba existed, the fortress was destroyed.” (6). From the period of its establishment, the fortified city or the Quba District was part of the Shirvanshah state, one of the powerful Medieval feudal states of Azerbaijan, ranging from the wide territory named Shirvan. Shirvan, or Sharvan, was an area on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, south of Kura, according to Medieval sources, being part of the old Caucasian Albania, or the early Medieval Aran. The borders of the Shirvan Region in that period of the Medieval times was often changing due to political events and changes in the administrative composition as a result of conquests. In some periods, part of Shirvan was a territory of Atropatene, the northern border of Shirvan was often reaching cities and settlements of Southern Dagestan (7). No wonder that the name “Quba” was seen in sources about a well-known trade and cultural center of Medieval Azerbaijan, the capital of Shirvan, the city of Shamakhi, “where merchants from all over the world would flock to buy the Quba-Shirvan carpets” (8). It is known about the population of the area that the territory of Shirvan was an arena for various contracts of altering Caucasian, Iranian and Turkic-speaking tribes for millennia, as proven by written sources, archeological and toponymic data.

 

Besides the ancient populations of Caucasian, Iranian and Turkic origin in Shirvan, Arabs lived in the country in the 7-9th centuries. “Data from the sources and toponymy says that the local population consisting of Caucasian, Iranian-speaking and Turkic-speaking tribes, had been a target of intensive infiltration of Turkic nomads since the beginning of Anno Domini, the powerful plating of which was a significant component in the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people. Arab tribes settling in Azerbaijan assimilated with the local population and their language was lost, leaving only a shade in toponymy and local lexis. It means that by the time of the Arab conquest of Azerbaijan, the Turkic and Iranian elements were stable” (9). The migration of new Kurdish tribes from Turkey to Azerbaijan and the inner migration of other Kurdish tribes from Southern Azerbaijan to Northern Azerbaijan was a conspicuous element in the ethnic mosaic of Azerbaijan in the 16-18th centuries (10). Cities and other residential areas of Shirvan were periodically facing tragic and devastating repercussions of wars between the Iran of the Safavid Dynasty and the Turkey of the Sultan.

 

In the 16th century, as a result of the 6th war between the Ottomans and the Safavids, Turks took over Shirvan in 1578, dividing it into two provinces: Greater and Lesser Shirvan. Quba, as the 3rd administrative sanjak, was part of Lesser Shirvan, with the center of Derbent (11). According to sources, the Qubans fighting on the side of the Safavids were also unhappy with the reign of the Qizilbash rulers, especially the local functionaries and military authorities of the Shah’s Court (12). “Despite the periodic capture and even long occupation of almost all the territory of Azerbaijan by the Ottomans, excluding its southeastern corner, Azerbaijan was not losing its administrative independence in the system of the Iranian Safavid state of the period… Starting in 1593, the Azerbaijani regions were in the control of the Qizilbashs: Zanjan, Halhal, Ardebil, Karajadag, Talysh, Kizilagac and Lankaran – a vast territory between the two rivers of Kizil Uzen and Kura – united into a single beylerbeylik “Azerbaijan” under the leadership of the Qaramanlu brothers, Farhad Khan and Zulfiqar Khan. The armed forces of the beylerbeylik amounted to up to 10,000 (mounted and foot-borne) in 1595, they were called the “forces of Azerbaijan” (13).

 

The constant raids of the Sultan’s Turkey on the Safavid state, the invasion of Turkish forces during the wars on the territory of the Trans-Caucasus and Azerbaijan were one of the decisive reasons for the switch of the capital of the Safavid state from Tabriz to Qazvin in 1548, then to Isfahan, as a result of which Azerbaijan lost its former glory in the central and the capital region of the Safavid state” (14). The event forced Azerbaijan to move away from Iranian territory, isolating itself from the center of the state further to the north. “To a certain extent, it stimulated territorial stabilization of the Azerbaijani nation on its native historical land, which, apart from a common language, is the second most important condition for the formation of any nation” (15). In 1638, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement that brought peace for over 80 yeas (1639-1723). Although Azerbaijan remained under Iranian rule throughout the period as its north-western periphery, in administrative terms it was an integral whole, including the territory of all Azerbaijan from the borders upstream of the River Kizil Uzen to the Main Caucasian Range and part of Eastern Armenia. Azerbaijan was perceived as four beylerbeyliks: Tabriz, (which covered all the territories of Azerbaijan in the south, from the River Araks, Talysh and Mugan), Shirvan with the center in Shamakhi (covering all the territory to the north from the River Kura to Derbent) and Karabakh with the center in Ganja (covering all the territory between the rivers Kura and Araks to Agstafa and Ordubad).

 

“Eastern Armenia under the name of beylerbeylik Chukhursaad, the majority of its population were Azerbaijanis” (16). Thus, “Azerbaijan” covered Atropatene, Talysh, Caspiana and the lands of Caucasian Albania. It is noteworthy that the beylerbek post was not heritable, it was given to the most noble of feudal families, usually of Azerbaijani origin. In particular, the rulers of Tabriz and Southern Azerbaijan belonged to the Pornak family (Pirbudak Khan, his son Shah Bende Khan, Pirbudak Khan II, Rustam Khan and others), Ganja was often ruled by the Kadzharov family (Ziyad ogly Qajar, Muhammed Quli Khan Qajar), Shirvan was under the control of Keyhosrow, outstanding for its practically full independence. Russian Envoy to Iran A.P. Volynsky (1717-1719) noted the difference between Shirvan and Persia already then, stating that “… the owners in Shirvan, sent as much as they wanted to the Shah’s treasury. (17) In Mugan of about the same period, “the shah’s power was not recognized” (18). It all resembled a prelude to the process of separation of Azerbaijani lands from the Iranian state in the late 17th century in the context of the weakening central power in Isfahan, which was in a state of economic fall due to the loss of connection with its peripheries (19).

 

The Quba Khanate was formed in the early 18th century, centered in Khudat and then Quba. Husein Ali Khan (1722-1758) is considered to be the founder of the Quba Khanate. Hussein I is the progenitor of Quba khans, he belonged to the dynasty of Qaytak rulers of Dagestan. Saved from the bloody fight between the two branches of the Qaytak tribes and moving to Isfahan, Hussein I married the daughter of a rich noble of the Qajar dynasty there. They gave birth to Ahmed, the grandfather Fatali Khan, a famous ruler of the Quba Khanate. Suleiman Khan promoted Hussein I to the Safavid Shah of Quba and Salyan for his courage and nobility. Upon arrival in Quba, Hussein I build a fortress in Khudat, made gardens, turned Khudat into his refuge, ruled over the territory in 1680-1689. The period of Hussein I’s rule and the rule of his sons and grandchildren until 1718 (the year when Sultan Ahmed Khan was killed) was notable for wars with Qaytag, when Quba's rulers were attempting to regain control over Bashly. There is also a theory that Hussein I converted to Shia Islam (just as the rest of his progeny), which was the main reason for the discords with the Qaytag authorities, who were always Sunnis (20). Both sides had various successes, resulting in Ahmed Khan (the son) and Sultan Ahmed (the grandson) of Hussein I being killed, while young Sultan Ahmed Hussein Ali was saved by his relatives and taken to Akhty. In 1718-1722, the power in Quba was split between Gazikumukh’s Surkhay Khan and Muskur’s Molla Haji Davoud, who took control over Shamakhi. The developments in Iran were far from tranquil. In 1721, an Afghan Ghilji tribe started an uprising under the leadership of Mahmoud Khan, who unseated Shah Hussein in 1722. Iran’s northern provinces Gilan, Mazandaran and Southern Azerbaijan resisted the Afghans. Hussein’s son Tahmasp II nominally recognized their independence, settling at Ardebil.

 

1. State Archive of the Azerbaijan Republic, fund 1061, register 1, case 96, page 13)

2. State Archive of the Azerbaijan Republic, fund 1061, register 1, case 96, page 2)

3. Husseinzadeh A. On the etymology of the toponym Quba. Soviet Turkology, 1971, N2, p. 119-125

4. Ashurbeyli S.B. The State of the Shirvanshahs (6-16th centuries). Baku, 1983, p. 30, 99, 101

5. Husseinzadeh A. On the etimology of toponym Quba…., p. 122-123; Geybullayev G.A. Toponymy of Azerbaijan, Baku, 1986, p. 64

6. Ashurbeyli S.B. The State of the Shirvanshahs (6-16th centuries). Baku, 1983, p. 99

7 Ibid, p. 13

8. The History of Azerbaijan. From Ancient Times to 1970. Edited by S. Aliyarli. Baku, 1996, p. 24

9. Ashurbeyli S.B. The State of the Shirvanshahs (6-16th centuries). Baku, 1983, p. 18-24

10. Geybullayev G.A. Toponymy of Azerbaijan, Baku, 1986, p. 110

11. Farzalibekov S.F. The History of Quba. Baku, 2001, p. 20 (in Azerbaijani language)

12. Ibid 13. Sumbatzadeh A.S. Azerbaijanis – the Ethnogenesis and the Formation of the Nation. Baku, 1990, P. 232

13. Rakhmani A.A. Azerbaijan in the Late 16-17th Century. Baku, 1981, p. 45

14. Sumbatzadeh A.S. Azerbaijanis – the Ethnogenesis and the Formation of the Nation. Baku, 1990, P. 232

15. Ibid, p. 233

16. Ibid, p. 241; Rakhmani A.A. Azerbaijan in the late 16th-17th Centuries. Baku, 1981, p. 86

17. Aliyev F.M. The Mission of the Envoy of the Russian State A.P. Volynsky to Azerbaijan. Baku, 1979, p. 58

18. Ibid, p. 78

19. Dalili K.A. The Southern Khanates of Azerbaijan, 1979, p. 11 (in Azerbaijani language)

20. Farzalibekov S.F. The History of Quba. Baku, 2001, p. 22 (in the Azerbaijani language)