123-499: Seyid Ali Imadaddin Nasimi ( Azerbaijani : سئید علی عمادالدّین نسیمی , romanized : Seyid Əli İmadəddin Nəsimi ; c. 1369/70 – c. 1418/19 ), commonly known as simply Nasimi ( نسیمی , Nəsimi ), was a 14th- and 15th-century Hurufi poet who composed poetry in his native Azerbaijani , as well as Persian and Arabic languages. He is regarded as one of
246-411: A cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification : BSk ) with hot and humid summers, cool and occasionally wet winters, and strong winds all year long. However, unlike many other cities with such climate features, Baku does not see extremely hot summers and substantial sunshine hours. This is largely because of its northerly latitude and the fact that it is located on a peninsula on the shore of
369-429: A 2011 study, 30 Turkish participants were tested to determine how well they understood written and spoken Azerbaijani. It was found that even though Turkish and Azerbaijani are typologically similar languages, on the part of Turkish speakers the intelligibility is not as high as is estimated. In a 2017 study, Iranian Azerbaijanis scored in average 56% of receptive intelligibility in spoken Turkish. Azerbaijani exhibits
492-449: A degree mutually intelligible, though it is easier for a speaker of Azerbaijani to understand Turkish than the other way around. Turkish soap operas are very popular with Azeris in both Iran and Azerbaijan. Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran (who spoke South Azerbaijani) met with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey (who spoke Turkish) in 1934; the two were filmed speaking their respective languages to each other and communicated effectively. In
615-490: A few days after each snowfall. Baku is divided into 12 rayonlar (sub-rayons) (administrative districts) and 5 settlements of city type. Until 1988, Baku had very large Russian, Armenian , and Jewish populations which contributed to cultural diversity and added in various ways (music, literature, architecture and progressive outlook) to Baku's history. With the onset of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and
738-428: A large campaign against Qajar Persia. Zubov had sent 13,000 men to capture Baku, and it was overrun subsequently without any resistance. On 13 June 1796, a Russian flotilla entered Baku Bay, and a garrison of Russian troops was stationed inside the city. Later, however, Emperor Paul I of Russia ordered the cessation of the campaign and the withdrawal of Russian forces following the death of his predecessor, Catherine
861-634: A literary language in the 14th century through poetry and other works. One ruler of the Qara Qoyunlu state, Jahanshah , wrote poems in Azerbaijani language with the nickname "Haqiqi". Sultan Yaqub , a ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu state, wrote poems in the Azerbaijani language. The ruler and poet Ismail I wrote under the pen name Khatā'ī (which means "sinner" in Persian ) during the fifteenth century. During
984-498: A much larger number of Persian and Arabic loanwords, phrases and syntactic elements. Early writings in Azerbaijani also demonstrate linguistic interchangeability between Oghuz and Kypchak elements in many aspects (such as pronouns, case endings, participles, etc.). As Azerbaijani gradually moved from being merely a language of epic and lyric poetry to being also a language of journalism and scientific research , its literary version has become more or less unified and simplified with
1107-529: A non-syllabic / v / can also be pronounced after the aforementioned diphthongs, to form / ou̯v / and / œy̯v / , the rules of which are as follows: Modern linguists who have examined Azerbaijani's vowel system almost unanimously have recognised that diphthongs are phonetically produced in speech. Before 1929, Azerbaijani was written only in the Perso-Arabic alphabet , an impure abjad that does not represent all vowels (without diacritical marks ). In Iran,
1230-646: A reputation as a focal point for traders from across the world during the Early modern period ; commerce was active and the area prospered. Notably, traders from the Indian subcontinent established themselves in the region. These Indian traders built the Ateshgah of Baku during 17th–18th centuries; the temple was used as a Hindu , Sikh , and Zoroastrian place of worship. The Safavids temporarily lost power in Iran in 1722; Emperor Peter
1353-693: A result, Baku played a great role in many branches of Soviet life. Baku was the major oil city of the Soviet Union. From about 1921 the city was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as Bakgorispolkom . Together with Baku Party Committee (known as the Baksovet ), it developed the economic significance of the Caspian metropolis. From 1922 to 1930 Baku became the venue for one of
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#17328487547571476-506: A similar stress pattern to Turkish but simpler in some respects. Azerbaijani is a strongly stressed and partially stress-timed language, unlike Turkish which is weakly stressed and syllable-timed . Below are some cognates with different spelling in Azerbaijani and Turkish: The 1st person personal pronoun is mən in Azerbaijani just as men in Turkmen , whereas it is ben in Turkish. The same
1599-588: Is Azerbaijan's largest stock exchange , and largest in the Caucasian region by market capitalization . A relatively large number of transnational companies are headquartered in Baku. One of the more prominent institutions headquartered in Baku is the International Bank of Azerbaijan , which employs over 1,000 people. International banks with branches in Baku include HSBC , Société Générale and Credit Suisse . Baku
1722-523: Is Islam. The majority of the Muslims are Shia Muslims , and the Republic of Azerbaijan has the second-highest Shia population percentage in the world, after Iran . The city's notable mosques include Juma Mosque , Bibi-Heybat Mosque , Muhammad Mosque and Taza Pir Mosque . There are some other faiths practised among the different ethnic groups within the country. By article 48 of its Constitution , Azerbaijan
1845-794: Is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch. It is spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people , who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan , where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken, while Iranian Azerbaijanis in the Azerbaijan region of Iran , speak the South Azerbaijani variety . Azerbaijani has official status in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Dagestan (a federal subject of Russia ), but it does not have official status in Iran, where
1968-473: Is a secular state and ensures religious freedom. Religious minorities include Russian Orthodox Christians , Catholic Levantines , Georgian Orthodox Christians , Albanian-Udi Apostolic Christians , Lutherans , Ashkenazi Jews, and Sufi Muslims. Baku is the seat of the Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan . Zoroastrianism , although extinct in the city as well as in the rest of
2091-547: Is also considered the founder of Azerbaijani classical ʿarūż poetry (poetry using quantifying prosody) and ghazal poetry (a form of love poetry), as well as the first lyric poet in Oghuz Turkic classic literature. Nasimi's given name was Ali, but he adopted the epithet ( laqab ) Imadaddin ('Pillar of Faith'), which superseded his original name in use. Some sources attribute other names to him, such as Nesîmüddin, Celâleddin and Ömer. His most prevalent pen name
2214-451: Is also reflected in the city's modern nickname as the "City of Winds" (Azerbaijani: Küləklər şəhəri ). Another and even less probable folk etymology explains the name as deriving from Baghkuy , meaning "God's town". Baga (now بغ bagh ) and kuy are the Old Persian words for "god" and "town" respectively; the name Baghkuy may be compared with Baghdād ("God-given") in which dād
2337-424: Is also regarded as the founder of Azerbaijani classical ʿarūż poetry, ghazal poetry, as well as the first lyric poet in Oghuz Turkic classic literature. His works had a significant impact on the development of both Azerbaijani and Ottoman literature . Nasimi's style has greatly influenced the general style of Azerbaijani poetry. According to the professors of Turkish literature Azmi Bilgin and İlyas Üzüm,
2460-477: Is as follows: The modern Azerbaijani Latin alphabet contains the digraphs ov and öv to represent diphthongs present in the language, and the pronunciation of diphthongs is today accepted as the norm in the orthophony of Azerbaijani. Despite this, the number and even the existence of diphthongs in Azerbaijani has been disputed, with some linguists, such as Abdulazal Damirchizade [ az ] , arguing that they are non-phonemic. Damirchizade's view
2583-593: Is because there is a strong tu-vous distinction in Turkic languages like Azerbaijani and Turkish (as well as in many other languages). The informal "you" is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal "you" is used when talking to someone who is older than the speaker or to show respect (to a professor, for example). Baku Baku ( US : / b ɑː ˈ k uː , ˈ b ɑː k uː / , UK : / b æ ˈ k uː , ˈ b æ k uː / ; Azerbaijani : Bakı [bɑˈcɯ] )
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#17328487547572706-637: Is certain that Russian and Iranian words (sic), respectively, have entered the vocabulary on either side of the Araxes river, but this has not occurred to an extent that it could pose difficulties for communication". There are numerous dialects, with 21 North Azerbaijani dialects and 11 South Azerbaijani dialects identified by Ethnologue. Three varieties have been accorded ISO 639-3 language codes: North Azerbaijani, South Azerbaijani and Qashqai . The Glottolog 4.1 database classifies North Azerbaijani, with 20 dialects, and South Azerbaijani, with 13 dialects, under
2829-558: Is certainly true in the environs. By the beginning of the 20th century, half of the oil sold in international markets was extracted in Baku. The oil boom contributed to the massive growth of Baku. Between 1856 and 1910 Baku's population grew at a faster rate than that of London , Paris or New York . In 1917, after the October Revolution and amidst the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution , Baku came under
2952-557: Is close to present-day Azeri- Türki . ), Afshari (often considered a separate language ), Shahsavani (sometimes considered its own dialect, distinct from other Turkic languages of northwestern Iran ), Baharlu (Kamesh), Moqaddam, Nafar, Qaragozlu, Pishagchi, Bayat, Qajar, Tabriz ". Russian comparatist Oleg Mudrak [ ru ] calls the Turkmen language the closest relative of Azerbaijani. Speakers of Turkish and Azerbaijani can, to an extent, communicate with each other as both languages have substantial variation and are to
3075-647: Is common throughout former USSR countries). The Shirvan dialect as spoken in Baku is the basis of standard Azerbaijani. Since 1992, it has been officially written with a Latin script in the Republic of Azerbaijan, but the older Cyrillic script was still widely used in the late 1990s. Ethnologue lists 21 North Azerbaijani dialects: "Quba, Derbend, Baku, Shamakhi, Salyan, Lenkaran, Qazakh, Airym, Borcala, Terekeme , Qyzylbash , Nukha, Zaqatala (Mugaly), Qabala, Nakhchivan, Ordubad, Ganja, Shusha (Karabakh), Karapapak , Kutkashen, Kuba". South Azerbaijani, or Iranian Azerbaijani,
3198-765: Is encountered in many dialects of the Turkmen language and may be observed in such words as: boyun > moyın in Yomut – Gunbatar dialect, büdüremek > müdüremek in Ersari and Stavropol Turkmens' dialects, bol > mol in Karakalpak Turkmens' dialects, buzav > mizov in Kirac dialects. Here are some words from the Swadesh list to compare Azerbaijani with Turkmen: Azerbaijani dialects share paradigms of verbs in some tenses with
3321-453: Is found. Verily, the words of the Scriptures find illustration here: 'the rock poured me out rivers of oil. Oil is in the air one breathes, in one's nostrils, in one's eyes, in the water of the morning bath (though not in the drinking water, for that is brought in bottles from distant mineral springs), in one's starched linen – everywhere. This is the impression one carries away from Baku, and it
3444-694: Is from Turkish Azeri which is used for the people ( azerice being used for the language in Turkish), itself from Persian آذری, Āzarī. The term is also used for Old Azeri , the ancient Iranian language spoken in the region until the 17th century. Azerbaijani evolved from the Eastern branch of Oghuz Turkic ("Western Turkic") which spread to the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe , and northern Iran, in Western Asia , during
3567-461: Is growing dynamically and developing at pace on an east–west axis along the shores of the Caspian Sea . Sustainability has become a key factor in future urban development. Baku is situated on the western coast of the Caspian Sea . In the vicinity of the city there are a number of mud volcanoes (Keyraki, Bogkh-bogkha, Lokbatan and others) and salt lakes ( Boyukshor , Khodasan, etc.). Baku has
3690-725: Is listed 48th in the 2011 list of the most expensive cities in the world conducted by the Mercer Human Resource Consulting . Its Nizami Street and also the Neftchilar Avenue are among the most expensive streets in the world. In 2007, the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre , designed by Pritzker Prize -winning architect Zaha Hadid , was opened. Baku also has many museums such as Baku Museum of Modern Art and Azerbaijan State Museum of History , most notably featuring historical artifacts and art. Many of
3813-515: Is not the case, they convey his themes of love through "easy-flowing, harmonious melodies". Nasimi is considered one of the greatest figures of Turkic literature . According to the modern scholar Sakina Berengian, Nasimi was the first major poet not only in Azerbaijani literature but also in all of Turkic literature. His influence on poetry extended throughout the Turkic world and impacted major poets such as Habibi , Haqiqi (pen name of Jahan Shah ), Khatai (pen name of Ismail I ), and others. Nasimi
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3936-505: Is one of the most important tourist destinations in the Caucasus, with hotels in the city earning 7 million euros in 2009. Many sizable world hotel chains have a presence in the city. Baku has many popular tourist and entertainment spots , such as the downtown Fountains Square , the One and Thousand Nights Beach, Shikhov Beach and Oil Rocks . Baku's vicinities feature Yanar Dag , an ever-blazing spot of natural gas. On 2 September 2010 with
4059-475: Is particularly wet. During Soviet times, Baku, with its long hours of sunshine and dry healthy climate, was a vacation destination where citizens could enjoy beaches or relax in now-dilapidated spa complexes overlooking the Caspian Sea. The city's past as a Soviet industrial centre left it one of the most polluted cities in the world, as of 2008 . At the same time, Baku is noted as a very windy city throughout
4182-455: Is rooted in the verb کوبیدن kubidan , "to pound", thus referring to a place where wind would be strong and pounding, as is the case of Baku, which is known to experience fierce winter snow storms and harsh winds). This popular name ( Badkubə in modern Azerbaijani script) gained currency as a nickname for the city by the 19th century (e.g., it is used in Akinchi , volume 1, issue 1, p. 1), and
4305-501: Is spelled Buş and Schröder becomes Şröder . Hyphenation across lines directly corresponds to spoken syllables, except for geminated consonants which are hyphenated as two separate consonants as morphonology considers them two separate consonants back to back but enunciated in the onset of the latter syllable as a single long consonant, as in other Turkic languages . Some samples include: Secular: Invoking deity: Azerbaijani has informal and formal ways of saying things. This
4428-622: Is still written in Cyrillic script. The Azerbaijani Latin alphabet is based on the Turkish Latin alphabet. In turn, the Turkish Latin alphabet was based on former Azerbaijani Latin alphabet because of their linguistic connections and mutual intelligibility. The letters Әə , Xx , and Qq are available only in Azerbaijani for sounds which do not exist as separate phonemes in Turkish. Northern Azerbaijani, unlike Turkish, respells foreign names to conform with Latin Azerbaijani spelling, e.g. Bush
4551-565: Is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan , as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level , which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula , on the Bay of Baku . Baku's urban population
4674-522: Is the official language of the Republic of Azerbaijan . It is closely related to modern-day Istanbul Turkish, the official language of Turkey. It is also spoken in southern Dagestan , along the Caspian coast in the southern Caucasus Mountains and in scattered regions throughout Central Asia . As of 2011 , there are some 9.23 million speakers of North Azerbaijani including 4 million monolingual speakers (many North Azerbaijani speakers also speak Russian, as
4797-751: Is the Old Persian word for "give". During Soviet rule , the city was spelled in Cyrillic as "Бакы" in Azerbaijani (while the Russian spelling was and still is "Баку", Baku ). The modern Azerbaijani spelling, which has been using the Latin alphabet since 1991, is Bakı ; the shift from the Perso-Arabic letter و ( ū ) to Cyrillic "ы" and, later, Latin "ı" may be compared to that in other Azerbaijani words (e.g. compare قاپو qāpū in old Perso-Arabic spelling with modern Azerbaijani qapı , "door") or in suffixes, as و
4920-402: Is true for demonstrative pronouns bu , where sound b is replaced with sound m . For example: bunun > munun / mının , muna / mına , munu / munı , munda / mında , mundan / mından . This is observed in the Turkmen literary language as well, where the demonstrative pronoun bu undergoes some changes just as in: munuñ , munı , muña , munda , mundan , munça . b > m replacement
5043-523: Is very little rainfall during that season. During summer, the khazri sweeps through, bringing desired coolness. Winter is cool and occasionally wet, with the daily mean temperature in January and February averaging 4.3 °C (39.7 °F). During winter, the khazri sweeps through, driven by polar air masses ; temperatures on the coast frequently drop below freezing and make it feel bitterly cold. Winter snow storms are occasional; snow usually melts within
Imadaddin Nasimi - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-687: Is widely spoken in Iranian Azerbaijan and, to a lesser extent, in neighboring regions of Turkey and Iraq , with smaller communities in Syria . In Iran , the Persian word for Azerbaijani is borrowed as Torki "Turkic". In Iran, it is spoken mainly in East Azerbaijan , West Azerbaijan , Ardabil and Zanjan . It is also spoken in Tehran and across the Tehran Province , as Azerbaijanis form by far
5289-568: The 2015 European Games , 4th Islamic Solidarity Games , the European Grand Prix in 2016, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2017, the final of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League , UEFA Euro 2020 and 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference . The Baku International Sea Trade Port is capable of handling two million tonnes of general and dry bulk cargoes per year. Baku is renowned for its harsh winds, reflected in its nickname,
5412-509: The Armistice of Mudros with the British (30 October 1918); this meant the evacuation of Turkish forces from Baku. Headed by General William Thomson , some 5,000 British troops, including parts of the former Dunsterforce , arrived in Baku on 17 November. Thomson declared himself military governor of Baku and implemented martial law in the city until "the civil power would be strong enough to release
5535-737: The Bibi-Heybat suburb of Baku in 1846. Large-scale oil exploration started in 1872 when the Russian imperial authorities auctioned parcels of oil-rich land around Baku to private investors. The pioneer of oil extracting from the bottom of the sea was the Polish geologist Witold Zglenicki . Soon after, investors appeared in Baku, including the Nobel Brothers in 1873 and the Rothschilds in 1882. An industrial area of oil refineries, better known as Black Town ( Russian : Чёрный город ), developed near Baku by
5658-670: The Chuvash language , on which linguists also rely in the study and reconstruction of the Khazar language . Azerbaijani phonotactics is similar to that of other Oghuz Turkic languages, except: Works on Azerbaijani dialectology use the following notations for dialectal consonants: Examples: The vowels of the Azerbaijani are, in alphabetical order, a /ɑ/ , e /e/ , ə /æ/ , ı /ɯ/ , i /i/ , o /o/ , ö /œ/ , u /u/ , ü /y/ . The typical phonetic quality of South Azerbaijani vowels
5781-755: The Dulkadir and the Aq Qoyunlu was motivated by politics. Nasimi's surviving works include two dīvāns (collections of poems), one in Azerbaijani and the other in Persian. Although the 16th-century Ottoman poet and bibliographer Latifî claimed that Nasimi had a " dīvān in all three languages", implying the existence of an Arabic dīvān as well, no evidence of such a work has been found. His Azerbaijani dīvān contains over four hundred ghazals (a form of love poetry) and several hundred other poems, including mas̱navīs (a poem written in rhyming couplets ) and quatrains (a four-line poem). According to
5904-529: The Eastern Anatolia Region and all over Iran from the 16th to the early 20th centuries, alongside cultural, administrative, court literature, and most importantly official language (along with Azerbaijani) of all these regions, namely Persian . From the early 16th century up to the course of the 19th century, these regions and territories were all ruled by the Safavids , Afsharids , and Qajars until
6027-942: The Kipchak-Turkic language of the same name), the dialect of the Ayrïm (Āyrom) tribe (which, however, resembles Turkish ), and the dialect spoken in the region of the Borchala river ; (3) northern group: Zakataly , Nukha , and Kutkashen ; (4) southern group: Yerevan (Īravān), Nakhichevan (Naḵjavān), and Ordubad (Ordūbād); (5) central group: Ganja (Kirovabad) and Shusha ; (6) North Iraqi dialects ; (7) Northwest Iranian dialects: Tabrīz , Reżāʾīya ( Urmia ), etc., extended east to about Qazvīn ; (8) Southeast Caspian dialect ( Galūgāh ). Optionally, we may adjoin as Azeri (or "Azeroid") dialects: (9) East Anatolian , (10) Qašqāʾī , (11) Aynallū, (12) Sonqorī , (13) dialects south of Qom , (14) Kabul Afšārī . North Azerbaijani, or Northern Azerbaijani,
6150-561: The Quran . However, some of the beliefs behind his poems fall outside of mainstream Islam. Michael Hess states that Nasimi's poetry blends easily comprehensible language with more intricate themes related to Hurufism. Hess also notes that while Fuzuli's poems have remained popular due to their emotional depth and technical proficiency, the concepts behind them are not as widely understood. Burrill notes that some of Nasimi's poems can be difficult to read due to their complex religious references, when this
6273-638: The oil fields of Baku was a primary goal of the Wehrmacht 's Operation Edelweiss , carried out between May and November 1942. However, the German Army reached only a point some 530 kilometres (329 miles) northwest of Baku in November 1942, falling far short of the city's capture before being driven back during the Soviet Operation Little Saturn in mid-December 1942. After the 1991 dissolution of
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#17328487547576396-580: The pogrom against Armenians starting in January 1990, the city's large Armenian population was expelled. After the collapse of the Soviet Union , Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev returned several synagogues and a Jewish college, nationalised by the Soviets, to the Jewish community; he encouraged the restoration of these buildings. Seven of the original 11 synagogues, including the Gilah synagogue, built in 1896, and
6519-429: The "City of Winds". Baku is long attested under the Perso-Arabic name باکو ( Bākū ). Early Arabic sources also refer to the city as Bākuh and Bākuya , all of which seem to come from a Persian name. The further etymology is unclear. A popular etymology in the 19th century considered it to be derived from Persian بادکوبه ( Bâd-kube , meaning "wind-pounded city", a compound of bād , "wind", and kube , which
6642-425: The 16th century, the poet, writer and thinker Fuzûlî wrote mainly in Azerbaijani but also translated his poems into Arabic and Persian . Starting in the 1830s, several newspapers were published in Iran during the reign of the Azerbaijani speaking Qajar dynasty , but it is unknown whether any of these newspapers were written in Azerbaijani. In 1875, Akinchi ( Əkinçi / اکينچی ) ("The Ploughman") became
6765-507: The 9th century, was extinguished in the course of Safavid rule. At this time, the city was enclosed within lines of strong walls, which were washed by the sea on one side and protected by a wide trench on land. The Ottomans briefly gained control over Baku as a result of the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578–1590 ; by 1607, it came under Iranian control again. In 1604 Shah Abbas I ( r. 1588–1629 ) destroyed Baku fortress. Baku had
6888-521: The Apostle was preaching Christianity in the city of Albana or Albanopolis, associated with present-day Baku or Derbent , both located by the Caspian Sea . St. Bartholomew managed to convert even members of the local royal family who had worshipped the idol Astaroth , but was later martyred by being flayed alive and crucified head down on orders from the pagan king Astyages. The remains of St. Bartholomew were secretly transferred to Mesopotamia . Baku
7011-440: The Arabian traveler, Marudee, reported that both white and black oil were being extracted naturally from Baku. By the 15th century, oil for lamps was obtained from hand-dug surface wells. Commercial exploitation began in 1872, and by the beginning of the 20th century the Baku oil fields were the largest in the world. Towards the end of the 20th century, much of the onshore petroleum had been exhausted, and drilling had extended into
7134-497: The Azerbaijani macrolanguage with "significant differences in phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and loanwords" between the two. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) considers Northern and Southern Azerbaijani to be distinct languages. Linguists Mohammad Salehi and Aydin Neysani write that "there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility" between North and South Azerbaijani. Svante Cornell wrote in his 2001 book Small Nations and Great Powers that "it
7257-488: The Baku Soviet and were massacred by Dashnak teams in what was called the March Days . An estimated 3,000–12,000 Azerbaijanis were killed in their own capital. After the massacre, on 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijani faction of the Transcaucasian Sejm proclaimed the independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in Ganja , thereby founding the first Muslim-majority democratic and secular republic . The newly independent Azerbaijani republic, being unable to defend
7380-486: The Caspian Sea. Baku, and the Absheron Peninsula on which it is situated, is the most arid part of Azerbaijan ( precipitation here is around or less than 200 mm (8 in) a year). This is largely due to the rain shadow effect from the Caucasus Mountains , with corresponding latitudes on the Black Sea on average receiving 2,300 mm (91 in) or more. The majority of the light annual precipitation occurs in seasons other than summer, but none of these seasons
7503-426: The Caspian Sea. The Old City , containing the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower , was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The city is the scientific, cultural, and industrial centre of Azerbaijan. Many sizeable Azerbaijani institutions have their headquarters there. In the 2010s, Baku became a venue for major international events. It hosted the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012,
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#17328487547577626-455: The Caucasus back to Iran . The eruption of instability following Nader Shah's death in 1747 gave rise to the various Caucasian khanates . The semi-autonomous Persian-ruled From the late 18th century, Imperial Russia switched to a more aggressive geopolitical stance towards its two neighbours and rivals to the south, namely Iran and the Ottoman Empire. In the spring of 1796, by Catherine II 's order, General Valerian Zubov 's troops started
7749-406: The Great of Russia took advantage of the situation and invaded. As a result of the Russo-Persian War of 1722–1723 , the Safavids were forced to cede Baku to Russia. By 1730 the situation had deteriorated for the Russians; the successes of Nader Shah ( r. 1736–1747 ) led them to sign the Treaty of Ganja near Ganja on 10 March 1735, ceding the city and all other conquered territories in
7872-403: The Great . In March 1797 the tsarist troops left Baku and the city became part of Qajar Iran again. In 1813, following the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 , Qajar Iran had to sign the Treaty of Gulistan with Russia this provided for the cession of Baku and of most of Iran's territories in the North Caucasus and South Caucasus to Russia. During the next and final bout of hostilities between
7995-407: The Hurufism movement, as well as Astarabadi's successor ( khalifa ). After the Timurid emperor Miran Shah executed Astarabadi for his religious views, Nasimi left Azerbaijan and travelled to Anatolia to spread Hurufism. He arrived in Bursa during Murad I ’s ( r. 1362–1389) reign but was not welcomed there. He also attempted to meet the Sufi saint Haji Bayram Veli in Ankara but
8118-600: The Iranian languages in what is now northwestern Iran, and a variety of languages of the Caucasus and Iranian languages spoken in the Caucasus , particularly Udi and Old Azeri . By the beginning of the 16th century, it had become the dominant language of the region. It was one of the spoken languages in the court of the Safavids , Afsharids and Qajars . The historical development of Azerbaijani can be divided into two major periods: early ( c. 14th to 18th century) and modern (18th century to present). Early Azerbaijani differs from its descendant in that it contained
8241-421: The Latin script and not South Azerbaijani written in the Perso-Arabic script. Modern literature in the Republic of Azerbaijan is primarily based on the Shirvani dialect, while in the Iranian Azerbaijan region (historic Azerbaijan) it is based on the Tabrizi one. An Azerbaijani koine served as a lingua franca throughout most parts of Transcaucasia except the Black Sea coast, in southern Dagestan ,
8364-446: The Modern Azeric family, a branch of Central Oghuz. In the northern dialects of the Azerbaijani language, linguists find traces of the influence of the Khazar language . According to Encyclopedia Iranica : We may distinguish the following Azeri dialects: (1) eastern group: Derbent (Darband), Kuba , Shemakha (Šamāḵī), Baku , Salyani (Salyānī), and Lenkoran (Lankarān), (2) western group: Kazakh (not to be confounded with
8487-540: The Republic of Azerbaijan and Russia) is based on the Shirvani dialect, while South Azerbaijani uses variety of regional dialects. Since the Republic of Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Northern Azerbaijani has used the Latin script. On the other hand, South Azerbaijani has always used and continues to use the Perso-Arabic script . Azerbaijani is closely related to Turkmen , Turkish , Gagauz , and Qashqai , being mutually intelligible with each of these languages to varying degrees. Historically,
8610-448: The Shirvanshahs to remain in power, under Safavid suzerainty. His successor, king Tahmasp I ( r. 1524–1576 ), completely removed the Shirvanshahs from power and made Baku a part of the Shirvan province. Baku remained as an integral part of his empire and of successive Iranian dynasties for the next centuries, until ceded to the Russian Empire through the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan . The House of Shirvan, which had ruled Baku since
8733-454: The Soviet Union , Baku embarked on a process of restructuring on a scale unseen in its history. Thousands of panel buildings from the Soviet period were demolished to make way for a green belt on its shores; parks and gardens were built on the land reclaimed by filling up the beaches of the Baku Bay . Improvements were made in general cleaning, maintenance, and garbage collection to bring these services up to Western European standards. The city
8856-533: The Timurid poet Ali-Shir Nava'i 's words of praise about Nasimi show that he was also considered an "important personality in the Central Asian Turkic world". In 1973, UNESCO declared the 600th anniversary of Nasimi's birth to be celebrated worldwide. Representatives from many countries participated in the celebrations held in Baku and Moscow . Tokay Mammadov was commissioned to create Nasimi's statue. Due to
8979-789: The Turkologist Kathleen Burrill, Nasimi was able to maintain the quality of his Azerbaijani language in his poetry while using the ʿarūż form (poetry using quantifying prosody). This sets him apart from later poets who relied heavily on borrowing from Persian because of what Burrill described as their "lack of skill" in mastering the ʿarūż form. His Persian dīvān consists of almost three hundred ghazals and discusses topics such as Hurufism, praise to Twelve Imams and Imam Ali , as well as Fazlallah Astarabadi. Nasimi's writing style often involves repeating sounds and grammatical patterns. His poems mainly centre around Hurufism and contain many references to Islamic texts such as
9102-579: The battle, Baku produced half of the world's oil supply. The oil economy of Baku is undergoing a resurgence, with the development of the massive Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field (Shallow water Gunashli by SOCAR , deeper areas by a consortium led by BP ), development of the Shah Deniz gas field , the expansion of the Sangachal Terminal and the construction of the BTC Pipeline . The Baku Stock Exchange
9225-630: The case to the Mamluk sultan Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh ( r. 1412–1421) in Cairo , who ordered Nasimi's death, likely due to his religious beliefs; Nasimi is sometimes referred to as a kafir , or unbeliever. According to the Turkologist Michael Hess, while some sources claim that Nasimi was killed by being flayed alive, there is no clear evidence of this in contemporary sources. Some texts do mention flaying, but it may have been done posthumously for
9348-475: The cession of Transcaucasia proper and Dagestan by Qajar Iran to the Russian Empire per the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay . Per the 1829 Caucasus School Statute, Azerbaijani was to be taught in all district schools of Ganja , Shusha , Nukha (present-day Shaki ), Shamakhi , Quba , Baku , Derbent , Yerevan , Nakhchivan , Akhaltsikhe , and Lankaran . Beginning in 1834, it
9471-685: The command of General Lionel Dunsterville on 15 September 1918. After the Battle of Baku of August–September 1918, the Azerbaijani irregular troops, with the tacit support of the Turkish command, conducted four days of pillaging and killing 10,000–30,000 Armenians of Baku . This pogrom became known as the " September Days ". Shortly after this, Baku was proclaimed the new capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The Ottoman Empire, recognising defeat in World War I by October 1918, signed
9594-523: The control of the Baku Commune , led by the veteran Bolshevik Stepan Shahumyan . Seeking to capitalize on the existing ethnic conflicts, by spring 1918, Bolsheviks inspired and condoned civil war in and around Baku. During the March Days of 1918, Bolsheviks and Dashnaks , seeking to establish control over Baku streets, faced armed Azerbaijani groups. The Azerbaijanis suffered defeat from the united forces of
9717-524: The country by the present time, had a long history in Azerbaijan and the Zoroastrian New Year (Nowruz) continues to be the main holiday in the city as well as in the rest of Azerbaijan. Baku's largest industry is petroleum, and its petroleum exports make it a large contributor to Azerbaijan's balance of payments . The existence of petroleum has been known since the 8th century. In the 10th century,
9840-581: The early 16th century, Baku's wealth and strategic position attracted the attention of its larger neighbours; in the previous two centuries, it was under the rule of the Iran-centred Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu . The fall of the Ak Koyunlu brought the city immediately into the sphere of the newly formed Iranian Safavid dynasty , led by king ( shah ) Ismail I ( r. 1501–1524 ). Ismail I laid siege to Baku in 1501 and captured it; he allowed
9963-529: The early 1880s. Professor A. V. Williams Jackson of Columbia University wrote in his work From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam (1911): Baku is a city founded upon oil, for to its inexhaustible founts of naphtha it owes its very existence, its maintenance, its prosperity... At present Baku produces one-fifth of the oil that is used in the world, and the immense output in crude petroleum from this single city far surpasses that in any other district where oil
10086-1026: The execution of its founder and Nasimi's teacher, Fazlallah Astarabadi . In Aleppo, he gained followers as a Hurufi sheikh but faced resistance from Sunni circles who eventually convinced the Mamluk sultan to order his death for his religious beliefs around 1418–19. Nasimi was executed and buried in a Sufi lodge ( takya ) in Aleppo. His surviving works include two dīvāns (collections of poems) in Azerbaijani and Persian, along with some poems in Arabic. Nasimi's poems mainly centre around Hurufism and contain many references to Islamic texts. His poetry combines harmonious melodies and easily understood expressions with more complex topics related to religion. Nasimi had great influence on Turkic literature and influenced many major future poets such as Habibi , Haqiqi (pen name of Jahan Shah ), Khatai (pen name of Ismail I ), among others. He
10209-400: The existence of a Bronze-Age settlement within the city's territory. Near Nardaran , a place called Umid Gaya features a prehistoric observatory, where images of the sun and of various constellations are carved into rock together with a primitive astronomic table. Further archeological excavations have revealed various prehistoric settlements, native temples, statues and other artifacts within
10332-508: The first Azerbaijani newspaper to be published in the Russian Empire . It was started by Hasan bey Zardabi , a journalist and education advocate. Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar is an important figure in Azerbaijani poetry. His most important work is Heydar Babaya Salam and it is considered to be a pinnacle of Azerbaijani literature and gained popularity in the Turkic-speaking world. It
10455-549: The forces from the responsibility to maintain the public order". British forces left before the end of 1919. The independence of the Azerbaijani republic was a significant but short-lived chapter in Baku's history. On 28 April 1920, the 11th Red Army invaded Baku and reinstalled the Bolsheviks, making Baku the capital of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic . The city underwent many major changes. As
10578-400: The founder of Varlıq , Javad Heyat , in 2001 where a document outlining the standard orthography and writing conventions were published for the public. This standard of writing is today canonized by a Persian–Azeri Turkic dictionary in Iran titled Loghatnāme-ye Torki-ye Āzarbāyjāni . Between 1929 and 1938, a Latin alphabet was in use for North Azerbaijani, although it was different from
10701-568: The greatest Turkic poets of his time and one of the most prominent figures in Azerbaijani literature . Some sources also mention that he was born in Baghdad in 1339. Born around 1369–70, Nasimi received a good education and was drawn to Sufism at an early age. After becoming a faithful adherent of the Hurufism movement, Nasimi left Azerbaijan to spread Hurufism in Anatolia and later Aleppo following
10824-725: The inauguration of National Flag Square , Baku set the world record for tallest flagpole ; on 24 May 2011, the city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan set a new record with a 3 metres (9.8 feet)-higher flagpole. A few years later, the Flag Pole was dismantled and the National Flag Square was closed off with fences. Baku has several shopping malls, including Ganjlik Mall, Deniz Mall, Crescent Mall, Port Baku Mall, 28 Mall, Park Bulvar , City Park and Metro Park. The retail areas contain shops from chain stores up to high-end boutiques. The city
10947-531: The independence of the country on their own, asked the Ottoman Empire for military support in accordance with clause 4 of the treaty between the two countries. Shortly after, Azerbaijani forces, with support of the Ottoman Army of Islam led by Nuru Pasha , started their advance on Baku, eventually capturing the city from the loose coalition of Bolsheviks , SRs , Dashnaks , Mensheviks and British forces under
11070-515: The language was referred to by its native speakers as türk dili or türkcə , meaning either "Turkish" or "Turkic". In the early years following the establishment of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , the language was still referred to as "Turkic" in official documents. However, in the 1930s, its name was officially changed to "Azerbaijani". The language is often still referred to as Turki or Torki in Iranian Azerbaijan . The term "Azeri", generally interchangeable with "Azerbaijani",
11193-450: The large Kruei Synagogue, were renovated. Today, the vast majority of Baku's population is made up of ethnic Azerbaijanis , and the rest are Talysh , Russians , Lezgi and others. The intensive growth of the population started in the middle of the 19th century when Baku was a small town with a population of about 7,000 people. The population increased again from about 13,000 in the 1860s to 112,000 in 1897 and 215,000 in 1913, making Baku
11316-428: The largest city in the Caucasus region. Baku has been a cosmopolitan city at certain times during its history, meaning ethnic Azerbaijanis did not constitute the majority of population. It was only in the 1970s that ethnic Azerbaijanis achieved demographic dominance in Baku. In 2003 Baku additionally had 153,400 internally displaced persons and 93,400 refugees. The religion with the largest community of followers
11439-459: The largest minority in the city and the wider province, comprising about 1 ⁄ 6 of its total population. The CIA World Factbook reports that in 2010, the percentage of Iranian Azerbaijani speakers was at around 16 percent of the Iranian population, or approximately 13 million people worldwide, and ethnic Azeris form by far the second largest ethnic group of Iran, thus making the language also
11562-512: The loss of many archaic Turkic elements, stilted Iranisms and Ottomanisms, and other words, expressions, and rules that failed to gain popularity among the Azerbaijani masses. The Russian annexation of Iran 's territories in the Caucasus through the Russo-Iranian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 split the language community across two states. Afterwards, the Tsarist administration encouraged
11685-502: The major trade fairs of the Soviet Union, serving as a commercial bridgehead to Iran and the Middle East. The major powers continued to note Baku's growing importance as a major energy hub. During World War II (1939–1945) and particularly during the 1942 Nazi German invasion of the southwestern Soviet Union , Baku became of vital strategic importance to the Axis powers . In fact, capturing
11808-539: The majority of Iranian Azerbaijani people live. Azerbaijani is also spoken to lesser varying degrees in Azerbaijani communities of Georgia and Turkey and by diaspora communities, primarily in Europe and North America. Although there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between both forms of Azerbaijani, there are significant differences in phonology , lexicon , morphology , syntax , and sources of loanwords . The standardized form of North Azerbaijani (spoken in
11931-543: The manifestation of God" and "describing all the body organs with letters" faced resistance in Sunni circles. In Aleppo, Nasimi continued to fight for freedom of expression through his poetry, challenging strict rules and religious intolerance. Some contemporary Arab sources say that a group of Sunni Muslim scholars who followed the main schools of law tried to get Nasimi killed by the Mamluk deputy of Aleppo based on vague rumours, but they failed. The deputy then reportedly referred
12054-435: The medieval Turkic migrations . Persian and Arabic influenced the language, but Arabic words were mainly transmitted through the intermediary of literary Persian. Azerbaijani is, perhaps after Uzbek , the Turkic language upon which Persian and other Iranian languages have exerted the strongest impact—mainly in phonology, syntax, and vocabulary, less in morphology. The Turkic language of Azerbaijan gradually supplanted
12177-488: The one used now. From 1938 to 1991, the Cyrillic script was used. Lastly, in 1991, the current Latin alphabet was introduced, although the transition to it has been rather slow. For instance, until an Aliyev decree on the matter in 2001, newspapers would routinely write headlines in the Latin script, leaving the stories in Cyrillic. The transition has also resulted in some misrendering of İ as Ì . In Dagestan, Azerbaijani
12300-431: The overuse of Persian, Arabic, and European elements in both colloquial and literary language and called for a simpler and more popular style. The Soviet Union promoted the development of the language but set it back considerably with two successive script changes – from the Persian to Latin and then to the Cyrillic script – while Iranian Azerbaijanis continued to use the Persian script as they always had. Despite
12423-644: The poet's birth. A street, a metro station, and a district in Baku are also named after Nasimi. The National Institute of Linguistics of Azerbaijan is also named in his honour. Additionally, there is a 1973 Azerbaijani biopic film about his life. In 2019, an asteroid that was discovered at Kleť Observatory in 1995 was named " 32939 Nasimi " in honour of the poet. Azerbaijani language Azerbaijani ( / ˌ æ z ər b aɪ ˈ dʒ æ n i , - ɑː n i / AZ -ər-by- JAN -ee ) or Azeri ( / æ ˈ z ɛər i , ɑː -, ə -/ az- AIR -ee, ah-, ə- ), also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish ,
12546-419: The process of standardization of orthography started with the publication of Azerbaijani magazines and newspapers such as Varlıq ( وارلیق — Existence ) from 1979. Azerbaijani-speaking scholars and literarians showed great interest in involvement in such ventures and in working towards the development of a standard writing system. These effort culminated in language seminars being held in Tehran , chaired by
12669-571: The purpose of public display. The most likely year of execution is 1418–9, although some historians suggest 1417 and other dates have also been proposed. Nasimi's body was buried in a takkah (Sufi lodge) named after him in Aleppo. Nasimi's execution is believed to have had a political component due to his Turkic ancestry, which brought him closer to Mamluks' rival Turkic dynasties in Syria and Anatolia. According to Hess, Al-Mu'ayyad's order to distribute pieces of Nasimi's body to local Turkic rulers like
12792-762: The remainder of present-day Azerbaijan. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, massive fortifications were built in Baku and the surrounding towns. The Maiden Tower , the Ramana Tower , the Nardaran Fortress , the Shagan Castle, the Mardakan Castle , the Round Castle and also the Sabayil Castle on the island of the Bay of Baku date from this period. The city walls of Baku were also rebuilt and strengthened. By
12915-439: The sea offshore. By the end of the 19th century skilled workers and specialists flocked to Baku. By 1900 the city had more than 3,000 oil wells, of which 2,000 were producing oil at industrial levels. Baku ranked as one of the largest centres for the production of oil industry equipment before World War II. The World War II Battle of Stalingrad was fought to determine who would have control of Baku oil fields. Fifty years before
13038-519: The second most spoken language in the nation. Ethnologue reports 10.9 million Iranian Azerbaijani in Iran in 2016 and 13,823,350 worldwide. Dialects of South Azerbaijani include: "Aynallu (often considered a separate language ), Karapapakh (often considered a separate language. The second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam mentions that it is close to both "Āzerī and the Turkish of Turkey". The historian George Bournoutian only mentions that it
13161-420: The short time frame for completion, Tokay Mammadov collaborated with his colleague Ibrahim Zeynalov. Initially, a 69-centimeter model and a 2-meter mock-up of the statue were prepared. Subsequently, based on this mock-up, a 6.5-meter statue of Nasimi was created and installed in one of the central gardens of the city. In Azerbaijan , 2019 was declared the "Year of Nasimi" to commemorate the 650th anniversary of
13284-632: The spread of Azerbaijani in eastern Transcaucasia as a replacement for Persian spoken by the upper classes, and as a measure against Persian influence in the region. Between c. 1900 and 1930, there were several competing approaches to the unification of the national language in what is now the Azerbaijan Republic, popularized by scholars such as Hasan bey Zardabi and Mammad agha Shahtakhtinski . Despite major differences, they all aimed primarily at making it easy for semi-literate masses to read and understand literature . They all criticized
13407-460: The territory of the modern city and around it. In the 1st century AD, the Romans organised two Caucasian campaigns and reached what is today Baku. Near the city, in what is today Gobustan , Roman inscriptions dating from AD 84 to 96 survive – some of the earliest written evidences for a city there. According to the 6th-century archbishop and historian St. Sophronius of Cyprus, in 71, St. Bartholomew
13530-514: The title seyid (marking his claim of descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad ) are often added in order to distinguish him from other figures who also bore the name Nasimi. Much of Nasimi's life is considered obscure. His year of birth is uncertain, but it is commonly assumed to be 1369–70 without conclusive evidence. His exact birthplace is also contested: it has been argued as Shamakhi , Tabriz , Baghdad , Aleppo , Shiraz or Diyarbakır . He
13653-592: The two, the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 , the Iranians briefly recaptured Baku. However, the militarily superior Russians ended this war with a victory as well, and the resulting Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828) made Baku's inclusion in the Russian Empire definite. When Baku was occupied by the Russian troops during the war of 1804–13 , nearly the entire population of some 8,000 people was ethnic Tat . Baku within Russia
13776-518: The wide use of Azerbaijani in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , it became the official language of Azerbaijan only in 1956. After independence, the Republic of Azerbaijan decided to switch back to a modified Latin script. The development of Azerbaijani literature is closely associated with Anatolian Turkish, written in Perso-Arabic script . Examples of its detachment date to the 14th century or earlier. Kadi Burhan al-Din , Hasanoghlu , and Imadaddin Nasimi helped to establish Azerbaiijani as
13899-539: The year, hence the city's nickname the " City of Winds ", and gale-force winds, the cold northern wind khazri and the warm southern wind gilavar are typical here in all seasons. Indeed, the city is renowned for its fierce winter snow storms and harsh winds. The speed of the khazri sometimes reaches 144 km/h (89 mph), which can cause damage to crops, trees and roof tiles. The daily mean temperature in July and August averages 26.4 °C (79.5 °F), and there
14022-448: Was Nasimi. Its etymology is disputed but most plausibly explained as an echo of Naimi, the pen name of Nasimi's teacher Fazlallah Astarabadi . It may also have been derived from the Arabic word [[[wikt:نسیم|nasim]]] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) , meaning 'breeze, breath of wind'. He also employed other pen names sporadically, such as Hüseyni, Haşimi, Seyyid, Ali and İmad. His epithet Imadaddin or
14145-458: Was challenged by others, such as Aghamusa Akhundov [ az ] , who argued that Damirchizade was taking orthography as the basis of his judgement, rather than its phonetic value. According to Akhundov, Azerbaijani contains two diphthongs, / ou̯ / and / œy̯ / , represented by ov and öv in the alphabet, both of which are phonemic due to their contrast with / o / and / œ / , represented by o and ö . In some cases,
14268-538: Was estimated at two million people as of 2009. Baku is the primate city of Azerbaijan—it is the sole metropolis in the country, and about 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area . Baku is divided into twelve administrative raions and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on the islands of the Baku Archipelago , as well as the industrial settlement of Neft Daşları built on oil rigs 60 kilometres (37 miles) away from Baku city in
14391-639: Was introduced as a language of study in Kutaisi instead of Armenian. In 1853, Azerbaijani became a compulsory language for students of all backgrounds in all of Transcaucasia with the exception of the Tiflis Governorate . Azerbaijani is one of the Oghuz languages within the Turkic language family . Ethnologue lists North Azerbaijani (spoken mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Russia) and South Azerbaijani (spoken in Iran, Iraq, and Syria) as two groups within
14514-453: Was of Azerbaijani Turkic origin and spoke Azerbaijani as his native language, as well as fluent Persian and Arabic . Nasimi had a good education as a child and pursued Sufism at an early age. While in Tabriz, he met the mystic Fazlallah Astarabadi, who introduced him to Hurufism . Nasimi stayed with him in Baku and Shirvan for some time and became one of the most faithful adherents of
14637-563: Was often used to transcribe the vowel harmony in Azerbaijani (which was also the practice in Ottoman Turkish ). (See also Azerbaijani alphabet .) Traces of human settlement in the region of present-day Baku date back to the Stone Age . Bronze-Age rock carvings have been discovered near Bayil, and a bronze figure of a small fish in the territory of the Old City. These have led some to suggest
14760-564: Was the administrative center of the Baku Uyezd , Baku Governorate , and the Baku Gradonachalstvo . The Russians built the first oil-distilling factory in Balaxani in 1837. The first person to drill oil in Baku was an ethnic Armenian Ivan Mirzoev , who is also known as a 'founding father of Baku's oil industry.' Digging for oil began in the 1840s, with the first oil well drilled in
14883-584: Was the realm of the Shirvanshahs during the 8th century AD. The city frequently came under assault from the Khazars and (starting from the 10th century) from the Rus' . Shirvanshah Akhsitan I built a navy in Baku and successfully repelled a Rus' assault in 1170. After a devastating earthquake struck Shamakhi , the capital of Shirvan , Shirvanshah's court moved to Baku in 1191. The Shirvan era greatly influenced Baku and
15006-726: Was translated into more than 30 languages. In the mid-19th century, Azerbaijani literature was taught at schools in Baku , Ganja , Shaki , Tbilisi , and Yerevan . Since 1845, it has also been taught in the Saint Petersburg State University in Russia . In 2018, Azerbaijani language and literature programs are offered in the United States at several universities, including Indiana University , UCLA , and University of Texas at Austin . The vast majority, if not all Azerbaijani language courses teach North Azerbaijani written in
15129-476: Was turned away because of his Hurufi beliefs. Unable to find a suitable environment for his beliefs in Anatolia, he went to Aleppo, which was the main centre of Hurufis in Syria at that time. Islamic scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani wrote about Nasimi's activity in Aleppo as a Hurufi sheikh and his increasing followers. He used his poetry skills to further spread his beliefs. His ideas, such as "the human face being
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