Events of 1918 in Quba. Part 4 Background

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. Vestnik Kavkaza provides the historical documents on the events of March and their background.

On April 10th 1840 the Russian government adopted the Law on Administrative Reform in Transcaucasia. It began its operation on January 1st 1841. According to the law, the control management was eliminated in Transcaucasia; it was replaced by the all-Russian administrative system. The majority of Azerbaijan was included into the newly founded Caspian Oblast (Baku, Derbent, Quba, Lenkoran, Nukhin, Shemakha, Susha districts); the smaller part was included into the Georgian-Imereti Province (Elisavetpolsk, Balaken, and Nakhichevan districts). Therefore, the Quba Province became the Quba District, and in 1843 Quba turned into a district city. According to the same law, old structures were substituted by new ones – provincial, district, and local; magals were eliminated, as well as positions of magal naibs.

Azerbaijani officials were dismissed from administrative apparatuses everywhere and replaced by Russian bureaucrats. Senator Gan’s project and other documents stated that only ‘natural Russian nobility’ could have been a reliable pillar of the Russian monarchy in the region. However, to plant Russian nobility, they needed lands. It was decided to eliminate title land tenure in Muslim provinces of Transcaucasia. Before the reform, only a small part of beks and agalars participated in anti-government protests; but now almost all of them became a radical opposition, as they lost their positions, lands, and peasants, i.e. revenues. They often established armed groups and attacked not only certain officials and officers, but also small troops of the Imperial Army.

It was qualified as ‘riots and robberies,’ but the scale of the movement which seriously developed in the middle of 1842 made the government of Nikola I reconsider the decision and stop further implementation of Gan’s reform. (89)

Even though the administrative and judicial reform of the early 1840s, elimination of the control management and the remains of the old khan’s orders encouraged the economic development of the country and a complete end of feudal disunity, it intensified colonial oppression of czarist autocracy. The Law on Hearth Tax of 1841, which eliminated the previous tax system and had been implemented in Azerbaijan for 10 years, encouraged the process of corruption of subsistence farming and development of commodity-money relationships.

However, launching taxes on randj-bars and askers, which previously were not taxed, and other governmental measures were a heavy burden for peasants, who often protested against the authorities, refusing to pay taxes. In 1844 the kenthuda of the village of Kryz in the Quba District was killed; he was famous for his cruelty toward peasants. Two peasants were accused of the murder and sentenced to exile, but residents of the village threw their weight behind them and demanded they be freed. Imperial bureaucrats had to stop the execution of the sentence. In 1845 a group of peasants of the Quba District stopped obeying a landlord, Mamed Yusuf-bek, refused to pay taxes or serve him. According to the landlord's letters to the head of the district, the peasants hadn’t been recognizing him for 8 years.

In 1846 peasants of the village of Rustov in the Quba District revolted against their ruler, who sent armed troops to the village and suppressed the riot. Peasant riots were taking place in other districts as well at that time. (90) Local landowners also often encouraged development of the peasant movement – beks, agalars who were dissatisfied with the policy of the Russian authorities. The situation in Azerbaijani districts was so tense in that period that the issue of establishing a reliable social pillar represented by the local nobility in the Caucasus was raised again. In 1844 the government established the Caucasus Viceroyalty, establishing a colonial method of managing the region.

The whole civil and military power belonged to a viceroy who directly obeyed the Emperor. The first viceroy was Prince M. Vorontsov, who made amendments to the reform of 1840. In 1846 a new administrative division of Transcaucasia was launched – the Tiflis, Kutaisi, Shemakha, and Derbent Provinces. They were governed by military governors. The majority of Azerbaijan was included into the Shemakha Province. The Quba District was included into the Derbent Province. Later, in 1850, the Yerevan Province was founded, and a part of Azerbaijani land was included into it. After a heavy earthquake on May 30th 1859, which destroyed Shemakha, Baku became the center of the province, and Shemakha Province was renamed Baku Province. On May 5th 1860 the Quba District was included into the Baku Province.

In December 1846 the Rescript by Nikolai I on the rights of beks and agalars was published. They were recognized as hereditary owners of all lands which they had before Azerbaijan was merged into Russia; and even estates in condition – tyuls – turned into bequeathed properties. In December 1847 the so-called “Village Provisions” were published; they maintained numerous taxes and improved the personal dependence of peasants on landowners. The right of beks to serve in the Imperial Army and other structures as officers and officials became legal. In the second half of the 19th century the Russian Empire stepped into a new capitalist period of its historic development; it was also significant for the economic and social life of its provinces, including the Azerbaijani regions, which were becoming more and more important for the Russia's overall trade turnover.

Steadily some branches of the Azerbaijani economy started producing goods for the Russian market. The growth of oil, silk, agricultural, and other exports contributed to improvement of trade contacts with central provinces of Russia. The processes positively influenced the economic development of Quba as well. In the middle of the 19th century the volume of Russian imports to Quba was up to 80 thousand rubles; while the annual turnover of the city was up to 500 thousand rubles; it was a fairly big index at the time. Carpets were one of the main exports of the city; they were sent to cities and districts and then exported to far markets, including abroad. The main trading partners of Quba were Russia, Iran, Dagestan and Baku. Trading fruits and vegetables which were exported to the markets of Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus and Russia played a big role in the city’s economy. Production of madder was very popular in that period. Madder was used for making dyes for the Russian textile industry; production of silk, tobacco, leather goods which were exported to Volga cities was also popular. (91)

Extension of industries and trade contributed to the growth of Quba itself; several brick factories and 2 tobacco factories were built there; there were various craft studios; internal city trade was developing. In 1832 there were 155 shops in Quba; in 1893 there were 1109 of them. The majority of trade facilities were situated in the central part of Quba – on Main Street, Boulevard Street, Market Street, Commandant Street, and so on. The focus of the city was a trading market. There were such arts and crafts as hat crafting, shoemaking, sewing, dyeing, araba crafting, leather crafting, liming, gunsmithing, blacksmithing and others in Quba and most large villages of the county during this period. A significant part of these crafts have emerged from traditional forms. (92 ) Thus, there were the beginnings of capitalist relations at the national outskirts with the growth of capitalism in the Russian Empire.

However, the dominance of patriarchal-feudal relations and the colonialist policy of the tsarist government affected the socio-economic life of Azerbaijan as a whole, and the life of its individual cities and counties. Thus, the manifesto on the abolishion of serfdom, signed by Alexander II on February 19, 1861, did not affect the margins and serfdom was abolished in the Caucasus much later than in Russia. Even the "Regulations on the land giving to the state serfs living on the land of the Muslim people of the higher class, as well as Meliks of Armenians in Transcaucasian provinces: Elisabethpol, Baku, Erivan and parts of Tiflis," published on May 14, 1870, which was considered to be a major piece of legislation of peasant reform in the Caucasus and proclaimed the abolition of the personal dependence of peasants on beks, did not affect the Quba province or Zakataly district.It was realized in Quba only in 1880, and in 1913 in Zakataly. The trial and urban reforms, implemented by the tsarist government in the late 1860s, were more abbreviated than in the central provinces of Russia, in connection with the "mingled and uncultivated" population. (93)  The tsarist government also had its own vision in respect of the "mingled and uncultivated" population. Senators Kutaisov and Mechnikov, visiting a number of Caucasian regions and cities, presented the "Proposals on the structure of the Transcaucasian region" to the government in the early 30s, where it was proposed to link it "with the Russian civilian and political ties to one body and force the residents to say, think and feel like Russians" to "make this region more useful for Russia". "Proposals" were not limited to only "civil and political" ties and also included the idea of "the illumination of residents with the beam of the Orthodox faith, and installing of the Holy Cross on the ruins of Islamism". (94) To solve this problem, a tsarist resettlement policy, which began to be implemented in the early 1830s, was designed.The act adopted by the tsarist government on October 20, 1830 marked the beginning of settling Transcaucasia with schismatic and sectarians and stopped their resettlement to Novorossiysk Territory. The Vel village of the Lankoran district of Baku province, which appeared in 1834, was the first Russian settlement in Transcaucasia. "One of the most effective measures for the consolidation of Russian power in Transcaucasian mingled and multiethnic outskirts is to strengthen the composition of the local population with a trustworthy Russian element," the humble note of the supreme commander said. Our government has been aware of this problem for a long time, and therefore significant quantities of Russian sectarians were sent here to settle in 1830-1850's. (95) As of January 1, 1849, there were already 3259 families of Russian settlers in the amount of 19,341 souls of both sexes in Transcaucasia. There were 19 villages in the Shamakhi governorate (Baku province since 1859), 2 in Tiflis, 7 in Elisabethpol, 6 in the  Erivan governorate. (96) As follows from the source, the largest number of Russian immigrants in Transcaucasia was focused on Azerbaijani territories, mostly in the Baku governorate, and this has continued in all subsequent periods. Simultaneously with the settlement of Transcaucasia by exiled sectarians and schismatics, there were the process of creating a permanent headquarters and farms on these lands with the organization of military units, which had military-strategic importance. There were farms, fields and pastures at the headquarters, the lower ranks got families and households.Russian-Orthodox villages at the headquarters in the Quba district – Kusary, a little later Zurabovka – were among the first. The government gave priority to the education of new immigrants in a spirit of devotion to the Orthodox Church, and due to this, simultaneously with the founding of the headquarters of the 84th Infantry Regiment of Shirvan in Kusary in 1836, Kusary Parish was founded. (97) But soon, the process of peasant colonization by creating a headquarters and the expulsion of sectarians got out of control and unauthorized migration of peasants began, who rushed from the interior provinces of Russia to Transcaucasia, especially in Azerbaijan, in search of free land. The unauthorized migration of peasants, although it was punishable by criminal penalties, was not regulated and legalized by the government, however, being "administered by local government officials" it found its decision. (98) After the famous peasant reforms of 1860-70s the resettlement of Russian peasants to Transcaucasia was actually terminated, which was motivated by "the harmful influence of sectarians on schismatics, who voluntarily resettled from the interior provinces ... and by the lack of free state land." (99)There are two interesting motivations which led to the restriction of the resettlement process, which, despite the ban, did not stop, as evidenced by the formation of Russian villages in Quba district in the early 1890s and up to 1916. According to a letter to the Interior Ministry to the minister of Agriculture and State Property, the sectarians didn't meet the expectations of the Russian government, and "didn't advance Russian business" in this region, but on the contrary, being "an unreliable, anti-state element", they had "a demoralizing effect on the native population, who was not yet penetrated by the spirit of Russian citizenship sufficiently, by its "negative attitude to the existing political system." This letter accused the Russian sectarians of undermining "the local population's proper respect for the principles of Russian statehood,"thereby threatening "new serious complications in the state management." (100) How can recently settled Russian citizens, who have not grown roots in this region yet and have not joined the local community, undermine its "due respect" to the Russian state? Surely it was not its negative attitude to the "existing political system," which was shown god knows how. Although the one of the reasons which prompted the government to stop the expulsion of Russian peasants, which was mentioned in the letter – "the lack of free state land" – in this case seemed like weighty argument. It is known that the settlers originally should be placed on public lands, that is, mainly in the realms of the former khans and beks, which for various reasons had departed to the state. In addition, the government found it necessary to classify the land which was used by the villages as land designated for the resettlement of Russian immigrants, and these lands were recognized as "surpluses". Then significant areas of unexplored land were found, etc.However, in reality it usually ended up by resettlement of the "native population" from the native land and the placement of new settlers in there.90. History of Azerbaijan, v.2. Baku, 1957, 238-239 91 p. Farzalibekov S.F. History of Quba..., 216-218 p. (in Azer. lang.)92. Mammadov N.R. History of the City of Quba, 22 p.93. History of Azerbaijan, v.2, Baku, 1954, 262 p.94. The colonial policy of tsarist Russia in Azerbaijan in 1920-60e, p.1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1936, 280 p,95. RSMA, folio 400, Asian unit,  inventory 261\ 911, document 81\ 86, 1890, folio 10.96. On the Russian settlers in Transcaucasia. Caucasus, 1850, April 22, 127-128 p.; Bagirov F.E. The immigration policy in tsarist Azerbaijan. 1830-1914, Moscow, 2009, 19 p.97. Bagirov F.E. The immigration policy ... 17 p.98. The State Historical Archive of Georgia, fund 242, document 508, folio 13299. Ibid, fund 12, inventory 7, document 415, folio 3-4100. Ibid, document 268, 1900 folio 3-7.The focus of the city was a trading market. There were such arts and crafts as hat crafting, shoemaking, sewing, dyeing, araba crafting, leather crafting, liming, gunsmithing, blacksmithing and others in Quba and most large villages of the county during this period. A significant part of these crafts have emerged from traditional forms. (92 ) Thus, there were the beginnings of capitalist relations at the national outskirts with the growth of capitalism in the Russian Empire.

However, the dominance of patriarchal-feudal relations and the colonialist policy of the tsarist government affected the socio-economic life of Azerbaijan as a whole, and the life of its individual cities and counties. Thus, the manifesto on the abolishion of serfdom, signed by Alexander II on February 19, 1861, did not affect the margins and serfdom was abolished in the Caucasus much later than in Russia. Even the "Regulations on the land giving to the state serfs living on the land of the Muslim people of the higher class, as well as Meliks of Armenians in Transcaucasian provinces: Elisabethpol, Baku, Erivan and parts of Tiflis," published on May 14, 1870, which was considered to be a major piece of legislation of peasant reform in the Caucasus and proclaimed the abolition of the personal dependence of peasants on beks, did not affect the Quba province or Zakataly district.

It was realized in Quba only in 1880, and in 1913 in Zakataly. The trial and urban reforms, implemented by the tsarist government in the late 1860s, were more abbreviated than in the central provinces of Russia, in connection with the "mingled and uncultivated" population. (93)  The tsarist government also had its own vision in respect of the "mingled and uncultivated" population. Senators Kutaisov and Mechnikov, visiting a number of Caucasian regions and cities, presented the "Proposals on the structure of the Transcaucasian region" to the government in the early 30s, where it was proposed to link it "with the Russian civilian and political ties to one body and force the residents to say, think and feel like Russians" to "make this region more useful for Russia". "Proposals" were not limited to only "civil and political" ties and also included the idea of "the illumination of residents with the beam of the Orthodox faith, and installing of the Holy Cross on the ruins of Islamism". (94) To solve this problem, a tsarist resettlement policy, which began to be implemented in the early 1830s, was designed.

The act adopted by the tsarist government on October 20, 1830 marked the beginning of settling Transcaucasia with schismatic and sectarians and stopped their resettlement to Novorossiysk Territory. The Vel village of the Lankoran district of Baku province, which appeared in 1834, was the first Russian settlement in Transcaucasia. "One of the most effective measures for the consolidation of Russian power in Transcaucasian mingled and multiethnic outskirts is to strengthen the composition of the local population with a trustworthy Russian element," the humble note of the supreme commander said. Our government has been aware of this problem for a long time, and therefore significant quantities of Russian sectarians were sent here to settle in 1830-1850's. (95) As of January 1, 1849, there were already 3259 families of Russian settlers in the amount of 19,341 souls of both sexes in Transcaucasia. There were 19 villages in the Shamakhi governorate (Baku province since 1859), 2 in Tiflis, 7 in Elisabethpol, 6 in the  Erivan governorate. (96) As follows from the source, the largest number of Russian immigrants in Transcaucasia was focused on Azerbaijani territories, mostly in the Baku governorate, and this has continued in all subsequent periods. Simultaneously with the settlement of Transcaucasia by exiled sectarians and schismatics, there were the process of creating a permanent headquarters and farms on these lands with the organization of military units, which had military-strategic importance. There were farms, fields and pastures at the headquarters, the lower ranks got families and households.

Russian-Orthodox villages at the headquarters in the Quba district – Kusary, a little later Zurabovka – were among the first. The government gave priority to the education of new immigrants in a spirit of devotion to the Orthodox Church, and due to this, simultaneously with the founding of the headquarters of the 84th Infantry Regiment of Shirvan in Kusary in 1836, Kusary Parish was founded. (97) But soon, the process of peasant colonization by creating a headquarters and the expulsion of sectarians got out of control and unauthorized migration of peasants began, who rushed from the interior provinces of Russia to Transcaucasia, especially in Azerbaijan, in search of free land. The unauthorized migration of peasants, although it was punishable by criminal penalties, was not regulated and legalized by the government, however, being "administered by local government officials" it found its decision. (98) After the famous peasant reforms of 1860-70s the resettlement of Russian peasants to Transcaucasia was actually terminated, which was motivated by "the harmful influence of sectarians on schismatics, who voluntarily resettled from the interior provinces ... and by the lack of free state land." (99)

There are two interesting motivations which led to the restriction of the resettlement process, which, despite the ban, did not stop, as evidenced by the formation of Russian villages in Quba district in the early 1890s and up to 1916. According to a letter to the Interior Ministry to the minister of Agriculture and State Property, the sectarians didn't meet the expectations of the Russian government, and "didn't advance Russian business" in this region, but on the contrary, being "an unreliable, anti-state element", they had "a demoralizing effect on the native population, who was not yet penetrated by the spirit of Russian citizenship sufficiently, by its "negative attitude to the existing political system." This letter accused the Russian sectarians of undermining "the local population's proper respect for the principles of Russian statehood,"thereby threatening "new serious complications in the state management." (100) How can recently settled Russian citizens, who have not grown roots in this region yet and have not joined the local community, undermine its "due respect" to the Russian state? Surely it was not its negative attitude to the "existing political system," which was shown god knows how. Although the one of the reasons which prompted the government to stop the expulsion of Russian peasants, which was mentioned in the letter – "the lack of free state land" – in this case seemed like weighty argument. It is known that the settlers originally should be placed on public lands, that is, mainly in the realms of the former khans and beks, which for various reasons had departed to the state. In addition, the government found it necessary to classify the land which was used by the villages as land designated for the resettlement of Russian immigrants, and these lands were recognized as "surpluses". Then significant areas of unexplored land were found, etc.

However, in reality it usually ended up by resettlement of the "native population" from the native land and the placement of new settlers in there.

90. History of Azerbaijan, v.2. Baku, 1957, 238-239 91 p. Farzalibekov S.F. History of Quba..., 216-218 p. (in Azer. lang.)
92. Mammadov N.R. History of the City of Quba, 22 p.
93. History of Azerbaijan, v.2, Baku, 1954, 262 p.
94. The colonial policy of tsarist Russia in Azerbaijan in 1920-60e, p.1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1936, 280 p,
95. RSMA, folio 400, Asian unit,  inventory 261\ 911, document 81\ 86, 1890, folio 10.
96. On the Russian settlers in Transcaucasia. Caucasus, 1850, April 22, 127-128 p.; Bagirov F.E. The immigration policy in tsarist Azerbaijan. 1830-1914, Moscow, 2009, 19 p.
97. Bagirov F.E. The immigration policy ... 17 p.
98. The State Historical Archive of Georgia, fund 242, document 508, folio 132
99. Ibid, fund 12, inventory 7, document 415, folio 3-4
100. Ibid, document 268, 1900 folio 3-7.