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110-560: During the Soviet times, it had a status of a township. At those times, a carpet-weaving factory, which doesn't work at present, functioned in Yardimli. There are a museum, mosque and military memorial in the city. They explain the toponym in different ways. According to a possibility, it was created from the word "Yardam". The people are explained as part of the Ulus. They say the root of the name "Ardabil"

220-713: A Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan . They are predominantly Shia Muslims . They comprise the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the second-largest ethnic group in neighboring Iran and Georgia . They speak the Azerbaijani language , belonging to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages . Following

330-547: A "finer-scale picture of the genetic history of the region". A 2014 study comparing the genetics of the populations from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, (which were grouped as "Western Silk Road ") Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan (grouped as "Eastern Silk Road") found that the samples from Azerbaijan were the only group from the Western Silk Road to show significant contribution from the Eastern Silk Road, despite

440-446: A census of 2010, the city's population consists of 6700 people. This Yardimli District location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Azerbaijani people Azerbaijanis ( / ˌ æ z ər b aɪ ˈ dʒ æ n i , - ɑː n i / ; Azerbaijani : Azərbaycanlılar , آذربایجانلیلار ), Azeris ( Azərilər , آذریلر ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( Azərbaycan Türkləri , آذربایجان تۆرکلری ) are

550-522: A major rebellion in Iranian Azerbaijan from 816 to 837, led an Iranian Zoroastrian commoner named Babak Khorramdin . However, despite pockets of continued resistance, the majority of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. Later, in the 10th and 11th centuries, parts of Azerbaijan were ruled by the Kurdish dynasty of Shaddadid and Arab Radawids . In the middle of the eleventh century,

660-605: A native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language through language replacement , including possibility of elite dominance scenario. However, the language replacement in Azerbaijan (and in Turkey) might not have been in accordance with the elite dominance model, with estimated Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan being 18% for females and 32% for males. A subsequent study also suggested 33% Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan. A 2001 study which looked into

770-674: A program on state TV that contained what they consider an ethnic slur. Demonstrations were held in Tabriz , Urmia , Ardabil , and Zanjan , as well as Tehran and Karaj . Police in Iran have clashed with protesting people, fired tear gas to disperse crowds, and many demonstrators were arrested. One of the protesters, Ali Akbar Murtaza, reportedly "died of injuries" in Urmia. There were also protests held in front of Iranian embassies in Istanbul and Baku . The head of

880-460: A reference to atar if a cult of fire and its associated priesthood did not yet exist in Zoroaster's time. Thus, in all probability, "the word athravan has a different derivation." (Boyce, 2002:17) In Vendidad 1, Adar battles Aži Dahāka , the great dragon of the sky. In Ferdowsi 's Shahnameh , Hoshang , the grandson of the first man Gayomard , discovers fire in a rock. He recognizes it as

990-452: A remnant of the Albanians' language. Contemporary Western Asian genomes, a region that includes Azerbaijan, have been greatly influenced by early agricultural populations in the area; later population movements, such as those of Turkic speakers, also contributed. However, as of 2017, there is no whole genome sequencing study for Azerbaijan; sampling limitations such as these prevent forming

1100-491: A representation of a fire altar, accompanied by the legend atash i artakhshir , "Fire of Ardeshir", on the reverse. Ardashir's son, Shapur I ( r. 241–272), has much the same image but adds two attendants at the fire altar. On the coins of Hormizd I (also known as Ardashir II, r. 272–273), the emperor himself tends the fire with the help of an attendant. Bahram II (276–293) also appears himself, accompanied by what may be his queen and son. Narseh ( r. 293–303) also attends

1210-506: A temple cult of fire in the Avesta proper, nor is there any old Persian language word for one. Moreover, Boyce suggests that the temple cult of fire was instituted in opposition to the image/shrine cult and "no actual ruins of a fire temple have been identified from before the Parthian period" (Boyce, 1975:454). That the cult of fire was a doctrinal modification and absent from early Zoroastrianism

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1320-533: Is "Yard." According to the second assumption, "Ertim" was caused. Historian G.Gullayev closes this toponym in the name of the Pecheneg tribes. "Ertim" is the name of one of the Pecheneg tribes. It is interpreted in ancient Turkish, melting, knight. In 1924, Archaeologist I.Azimbeyov explained the toponym in the meaning of "helpers" in Turkish. According to people, a noble person named "Əli" came here and helped people living in

1430-649: Is a result of the medieval Arabic influences that followed the Arab invasion of Iran , and is due to the lack of the phoneme /p/ and /g/ in the Arabic language . The word Azarpāyegān itself is ultimately from Old Persian Āturpātakān ( Persian : آتورپاتکان) meaning 'the land associated with (satrap) Aturpat' or 'the land of fire guardians' ( -an , here garbled into -kān , is a suffix for association or forming adverbs and plurals; e.g.: Gilan 'land associated with Gil people '). The modern ethnonym "Azerbaijani" or "Azeri" refers to

1540-399: Is a secular system. Azerbaijan has benefited from the oil industry, but high levels of corruption have prevented greater prosperity for the population. Despite these problems, there is a financial rebirth in Azerbaijan as positive economic predictions and an active political opposition appear determined to improve the lives of average Azerbaijanis. The exact number of Azerbaijanis in Iran

1650-400: Is administered through atar ( Yasna 31.3, 34.4, 36.2, 47.2), the blazing atar (31.19, 51.9), through the heat of atar (43.4), through the blazing, shining, molten metal ( ayangha Khshushta , 30.7, 32.7, 51.9). An individual who has passed the fiery test, has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom, truth and love with serenity (30.7). However, among all the references to atar in

1760-465: Is an agent of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies [is] regarded as the basis of ritual life", which "are essentially the rites proper to the tending of a domestic fire, for the temple cult is that of the hearth fire raised to a new solemnity" (Boyce, 1975:455). For, "the man who sacrifices unto fire with fuel in his hand, with the Baresman in his hand, with milk in his hand, with

1870-537: Is heavily disputed. Since the early twentieth century, successive Iranian governments have avoided publishing statistics on ethnic groups. Unofficial population estimates of Azerbaijanis in Iran are around the 16% area put forth by the CIA and Library of Congress. An independent poll in 2009 placed the figure at around 20–22%. According to the Iranologist Victoria Arakelova in peer-reviewed journal Iran and

1980-620: Is iconographically conflated with fire itself, which in Middle Persian is 𐭠𐭲𐭧𐭱 ātaxsh , one of the primary objects of Zoroastrian symbolism. Atar is already evident in the Gathas , the oldest texts of the compendium of the Avesta and believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. At this juncture, as in the Yasna Haptanghaiti (the seven-chapter Yasna that structurally interrupts

2090-495: Is now believed to be from the Indo-European *h x eh x tr- 'fire'. This would make it a cognate to Latin ater (black) and to Albanian vatër (definite form: vatra ) "hearth", "fireplace", which was loaned to Romanian vatră "hearth", "fireplace", and thereafter spread to Serbo-Croat vatra "fire" and Ukrainian vatra "bonfire". In later Zoroastrianism, ātar ( Middle Persian : 𐭠𐭲𐭥𐭥𐭩 ādar or ādur )

2200-510: Is pronounced āzar today) + -pat ( [REDACTED] ) suffix for -guardian, -lord, -master ( -pat in early Middle Persian , -bod (بُد) in New Persian). Present-day name Azerbaijan is the Arabicized form of Āzarpāyegān ( Persian : آذرپایگان) meaning 'the guardians of fire ' later becoming Azerbaijan ( Persian : آذربایجان) due to the phonemic shift from /p/ to /b/ and /g/ to /dʒ/ which

2310-480: Is selected by Ahura Mazda, the Zarathushtra Mainyu Athra ( Yasna 31.3), radiated by Ahura Mazda (43.9), bearing the conviction of "Good Purpose" ( Vohu Manah , 43.4; see also Amesha Spenta ), and enlightening one's inner-self (46.7). Within this framework of the concept of divine illumination, atar radiates the "other lights" (31.7), the essence (of Ahura Mazda) from which insight and wisdom permeate

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2420-507: Is significant cross-border trade between Azerbaijan and Iran, and Azerbaijanis from Azerbaijan go into Iran to buy goods that are cheaper, but the relationship was tense until recently. However, relations have significantly improved since the Rouhani administration took office. There are at least ten Azerbaijani ethnic groups, each of which has particularities in the economy, culture, and everyday life. Some Azerbaijani ethnic groups continued in

2530-554: Is still evident in the later Atash Nyash : in the oldest passages of that liturgy, it is the hearth fire that speaks to "all those for whom it cooks the evening and morning meal", which Boyce observes is not consistent with sanctified fire. The temple cult is an even later development: From Herodotus it is known that in the mid-5th century BCE the Zoroastrians worshipped to the open sky, ascending mounds to light their fires ( The Histories , i.131). Strabo confirms this, noting that in

2640-524: Is the present-day Azerbaijan Republic and Iran from 1779. Russia loomed as a threat to Persian and Turkish holdings in the Caucasus in this period. The Russo-Persian Wars , despite already having had minor military conflicts in the 17th century, officially began in the eighteenth century and ended in the early nineteenth century with the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, which ceded

2750-708: The Azerbaijan People's Government , a client state under the leadership of Sayyid Jafar Pishevari backed by Soviet Azerbaijan . The Soviet military presence in Iranian Azerbaijan was mainly aimed at securing the Allied supply route during World War II . Concerned with the continued Soviet presence after World War II , the United States and Britain pressured the Soviets to withdraw by late 1946 . Immediately thereafter,

2860-628: The Persians , and later by the Oghuz Turks . Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians, including their language , history, early conversion to Christianity , and relations with the Armenians and Georgians , under whose strong religious and cultural influence the Caucasian Albanians came in the coming centuries. Turkification of the non-Turkic population derives from

2970-716: The Qizilbash , an association of the Turkoman nomadic tribes that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire. According to Soviet scholars, the Turkicization of Azerbaijan was largely completed during the Ilkhanid period. Faruk Sümer posits three periods in which Turkicization took place: Seljuk, Mongol and Post-Mongol (Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid). In the first two, Oghuz Turkic tribes advanced or were driven to Anatolia and Arran. In

3080-660: The Russian Empire in the nineteenth century, the Russian authorities, who traditionally referred to all Turkic people as Tatars , defined Tatars living in the Transcaucasus region as Caucasian Tatars or more rarely Aderbeijanskie (Адербейджанские) Tatars or even Persian Tatars in order to distinguish them from other Turkic groups and the Persian speakers of Iran. The Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary , written in

3190-498: The Russians , and the eventually opportunistic Afghans , who would mark the end of the dynasty. The Safavids encouraged and spread Shi'a Islam, as well as the arts and culture, and Shah Abbas the Great created an intellectual atmosphere that according to some scholars was a new "golden age". He reformed the government and the military and responded to the needs of the common people. After

3300-600: The Russo-Persian Wars of 1813 and 1828 , the territories of Qajar Iran in the Caucasus were ceded to the Russian Empire and the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 finalized the borders between Russia and Iran. After more than 80 years of being under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918 which defined the territory of

3410-575: The Seleucids in Persia in 247 BC, an Armenian Kingdom exercised control over parts of Caucasian Albania . Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the first century BC and largely remained independent until the Persian Sassanids made their kingdom a vassal state in 252 AD. Caucasian Albania's ruler, King Urnayr , went to Armenia and then officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in

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3520-564: The Seljuq dynasty overthrew Arab rule and established an empire that encompassed most of Southwest Asia . The Seljuk period marked the influx of Oghuz nomads into the region. The emerging dominance of the Turkic language was chronicled in epic poems or dastans , the oldest being the Book of Dede Korkut , which relate allegorical tales about the early Turks in the Caucasus and Asia Minor . Turkic dominion

3630-621: The Yazata Adar —was incorporated in the Zoroastrian hierarchy of divinities. In that position, Adar aids Asha Vahishta (Avestan, Middle Persian : Ardvahisht ), the Amesha Spenta responsible for the luminaries. From among the flowers associated with the Yazatas , Adar 's is the marigold ( calendula ) ( Bundahishn 27.24). The importance of the divinity Adar is evident from a dedication to

3740-414: The 1890s, also referred to Tatars in Azerbaijan as Aderbeijans (адербейджаны), but noted that the term had not been widely adopted. This ethnonym was also used by Joseph Deniker in 1900. In Azerbaijani language publications, the expression "Azerbaijani nation" referring to those who were known as Tatars of the Caucasus first appeared in the newspaper Kashkul in 1880. During the early Soviet period,

3850-536: The 6th century, the sanctuary at Zela in Cappadocia was an artificial mound, walled in, but open to the sky ( Geographica XI.8.4.512). By the Parthian era (250 BCE–226 CE), Zoroastrianism had in fact two kinds of places of worship: One, apparently called bagin or ayazan , sanctuaries dedicated to a specific divinity, constructed in honor of the patron Yazata of an individual or family and included an icon or effigy of

3960-461: The Avesta, but reappears in modified form as an allegory of burning and annihilating the Angra Mainyu through righteousness, "where Asha Vahishta is identified at times with the household fire on the hearth." There, "identification in the realms of matter and of spirit serves only to bring more into prominence the main tenets of Zoroaster's teachings in regard to Asha" (Dhalla, 1938:170). A vestige of

4070-688: The Azerbaijanis are of mixed descent, originating in the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly the Medians from northern Iran. There is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginal Caucasians may have been culturally assimilated, first by Ancient Iranian peoples and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity . The Udi language , still spoken in Azerbaijan, may be

4180-639: The Caucasian portion of Qajar Iran to the Russian Empire . While Azerbaijanis in Iran integrated into Iranian society, Azerbaijanis who used to live in Aran, were incorporated into the Russian Empire. Despite the Russian conquest, throughout the entire 19th century, preoccupation with Iranian culture , literature , and language remained widespread amongst Shia and Sunni intellectuals in the Russian-held cities of Baku , Ganja and Tiflis ( Tbilisi , now Georgia). Within

4290-618: The Caucasus , estimating the number of Azeris in Iran has been hampered for years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union , when the "once invented theory of the so called separated nation (i.e. the citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic, the so-called Azerbaijanis, and the Azaris in Iran), was actualised again (see in detail Reza 1993)". Arakelova adds that the number of Azeris in Iran, featuring in

4400-482: The Caucasus, despite their supposed common origin with Iranian Azeris, "occupy an intermediate position between the Azeris/Georgians and Turks/Iranians grouping". A 2007 study which looked into class two Human leukocyte antigen suggested that there were "no close genetic relationship was observed between Azeris of Iran and the people of Turkey or Central Asians". A 2017 study which looked into HLA alleles put

4510-518: The English language is based on the mistaken assumption that the athra* prefix derives from atar (Boyce, 2002:16–17). The term athravan does not appear in the Gathas, where a priest is a zaotar , and in its oldest attested use ( Yasna 42.6) the term appears to be synonymous with "missionary". In the later Yasht 13.94, Zoroaster himself is said to have been an athravan , which in this context could not be

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4620-458: The Evil Spirit assailed the creation of Good Truth, Good Thought and Fire intervened" ( Yasht 13.77) It is in the later texts that Atar is personified as "the son" of Ahura Mazda (standard appellation, Yasna 25.7 et al.) and is addressed as "full of glory and full of healing remedies" ( Nyash 5.6). In Yasna 17.11, Atar is "master of the house", recalling the role of the hearth fire in

4730-601: The Fire of Bahram , see Gnoli, 2002:512] and the lesser Atash-i Adaran , or 'Fire of Fires', a parish fire, as it were, serving a village or town quarter" (Boyce, 1975:462; Boyce 1966:63). Apparently, it was only in the Atash-i Vahram that fire was kept continuously burning, with the Adaran fires being annually relit. While the fires themselves had special names, the structures did not, and it has been suggested that "the prosaic nature of

4840-558: The Gathas and is linguistically as old as the Gathas themselves), atar is still—with only one exception—an abstract concept simply an instrument, a medium, of the Creator and is not yet the divinity ( yazata ) of heat and light that atar was to become in the later texts. In the most ancient texts, atar is a medium, a faculty, through which judgement is passed and reflects the pre-Zoroastrian institution of ordeal by heat (Avestan: garmo-varah , heat ordeal; cf. Boyce 1996:ch. 6). Justice

4950-563: The Gathas. The same passage enumerates the "five kinds of fire": The description of the fires in the Sassanid era commentaries (the Zend texts) differs slightly from those described in the Bundahishn ("Original Creation", completed in the 11th or 12th century). In the latter, the description of the first and last kind of fire is reversed. During the late Achaemenid era , adar —as the quintessence of

5060-524: The In mountainous conditions. He straightened a lot of water mills. And this place was called "Yardım Əli". According to Caucasian Calendar of 1915, 145 people, mainly the Azerbaijanis shown in the calendar as Tatars, lived in Yardimli village of Lankaran Uyezd of Baku Governorate in 1914. According to a census of 1979, 3114 people and according to a census of 1989 , 3438 people lived in Yardimli. According to

5170-478: The Indus basin, including those from Iran, Anatolia [Turkey] and the Caucasus, exhibit a common mtDNA lineage composition, consisting mainly of western Eurasian lineages, with a very limited contribution from South Asia and eastern Eurasia". While genetic analysis of mtDNA indicates that Caucasian populations are genetically closer to Europeans than to Near Easterners, Y-chromosome results indicate closer affinity to Near Eastern groups. The range of haplogroups across

5280-466: The Iranian Plateau into the Caucasus and Anatolia. The influx of the Oghuz and other Turkmen tribes was further accentuated by the Mongol invasion. These Turkmen tribes spread as smaller groups, a number of which settled down in the Caucasus and Iran, resulting in the Turkification of the local population. Over time they converted to Shia Islam and gradually absorbed Azerbaijan and Shirvan . Caucasian-speaking Albanian tribes are believed to be

5390-697: The Iranian government regained control of Iranian Azerbaijan . According to Professor Gary R. Hess, local Azerbaijanis favored the Iranian rule, while the Soviets forewent the Iranian Azerbaijan due to the exaggerated sentiment for autonomy and oil being their top priority. In many references, Azerbaijanis are designated as a Turkic people , while some sources describe the origin of Azerbaijanis as "unclear", mainly Caucasian, mainly Iranian, mixed Caucasian Albanian and Turkish, and mixed with Caucasian, Iranian, and Turkic elements. Russian historian and orientalist Vladimir Minorsky writes that largely Iranian and Caucasian populations became Turkic-speaking following

5500-426: The Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism was prominent throughout the Caucasus before Christianity and Islam. According to Encyclopaedia Iranica , Azerbaijanis mainly originate from the earlier Iranian speakers, who still exist to this day in smaller numbers, and a massive migration of Oghuz Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries gradually Turkified Azerbaijan as well as Anatolia. According to Encyclopædia Britannica,

5610-426: The Nagorno-Karabakh region. The First Nagorno-Karabakh War resulted in the displacement of approximately 725,000 Azerbaijanis and 300,000–500,000 Armenians from both Azerbaijan and Armenia. As a result of 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war , Azerbaijan took back 5 cities, 4 towns, 286 villages in the region. According to 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement , internally displaced persons and refugees shall return to

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5720-430: The Oghuz occupation of the region, though the characteristic features of the local Turkic language, such as Persian intonations and disregard of the vocalic harmony, were a remnant of the non-Turkic population. Historical research suggests that the Old Azeri language , belonging to the Northwestern branch of the Iranian languages and believed to have descended from the language of the Medes, gradually gained currency and

5830-457: The Qajar dynasty was soon removed in a military coup led by Reza Khan . In the quest to impose national homogeneity on a country where half of the population were ethnic minorities, Reza Shah banned in quick succession the use of the Azerbaijani language in schools, theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and books. Upon the dethronement of Reza Shah in September 1941, Soviet forces took control of Iranian Azerbaijan and helped to set up

5940-407: The Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is believed to be named after Atropates , a Persian satrap (governor) who ruled in Atropatene (modern Iranian Azerbaijan ) circa 321 BC . The name Atropates is the Hellenistic form of Old Persian Aturpat which means 'guardian of fire ' itself a compound of ātūr ( [REDACTED] ) 'fire' (later ādur (آذر) in (early) New Persian , and

6050-408: The Safavid state disintegrated, it was followed by the conquest by Nader Shah Afshar , a Shia chieftain from Khorasan who reduced the power of the ghulat Shi'a and empowered a moderate form of Shi'ism, and, exceptionally noted for his military genius, making Iran reach its greatest extent since the Sassanid Empire . The brief reign of Karim Khan came next, followed by the Qajars , who ruled what

6160-423: The Turkic peoples of Iran 's northwestern historic region of Azerbaijan (also known as Iranian Azerbaijan) and the Republic of Azerbaijan . They historically called themselves or were referred to by others as Muslims and/or Turks. They were also referred to as Ajam (meaning from Iran), using the term incorrectly to denote their Shia belief rather than ethnic identity. When the Southern Caucasus became part of

6270-402: The Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during the Seljuk period. The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-day Turkmenistan , which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under the Ilkhanids were Turkic. By the Safavid period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of

6380-435: The ancient institution of ordeal by heat is nonetheless present in Vendidad 4.54–55, where speaking against the truth and violating the sanctity of promise is punishable by flogging and is detected by the consumption of "water, blazing, of golden color, having the power to detect guilt." The Zend translation/commentary on this passage translates "blazing" as "having brimstone and sulphur", and notes that innocence or guilt

6490-411: The collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I , the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was declared, constituting what are the present-day republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. This was followed by March Days massacres that took place between 30 March and 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire . When

6600-499: The collapse of the Soviet Union, the most popular figure depicting the number of "Azerbaijanis" in Iran was thirty-three million, at a time when the entire population of Iran was barely sixty million. Therefore, at the time, half of Iran's citizens were considered "Azerbaijanis". Shortly after, this figure was replaced by thirty million, which became "almost a normative account on the demographic situation in Iran, widely circulating not only among academics and political analysts, but also in

6710-414: The country's state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Mohammad Sarafraz has apologized for airing the program, whose broadcast was later discontinued. Azerbaijanis are an intrinsic community of Iran, and their style of living closely resemble those of Persians : The lifestyles of urban Azerbaijanis do not differ from those of Persians, and there is considerable intermarriage among

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6820-406: The divine glory of Ahura Mazda, offers homage to it, and instructs his people to so as well. Also in the Shahnameh is the legend of Sevavash , who passes through "the unburning fire" as proof of his innocence. During the Sassanid era (226–650 CE), the symbol of Fire plays much the same role that the winged sun Faravahar did during the Achaemenid period (648–330 BCE). Beginning with Ardashir I ,

6930-518: The divinity presiding over blazing fire is abrupt. While the older Gathic Avestan texts have heat (and thus fire) associated with harsh judgement, the Younger Avestan texts have the divinity Atar completely representing and being represented by fire itself; and associated with warmth and light and essential for growth. Asha Vahishta 's association with atar is however carried forward, and they are often mentioned together ( Yasna 62.3, Nyashes 5.9, etc.). So also in their roles as protectors, for "when

7040-413: The earliest inhabitants of the region in the north of Aras river, where the Republic of Azerbaijan is located. The region also saw Scythian settlement in the ninth century BC, following which the Medes came to dominate the area to the south of the Aras River . Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenids in 330 BC, but allowed the Median satrap Atropates to remain in power. Following the decline of

7150-427: The entity in the Zoroastrian calendar : Adar is one of the only five Yazatas that have a month-name dedication. Additionally, Adar is the name of the ninth day of the month in the Zoroastrian religious calendar, and the ninth month of the year of the civil Iranian calendar of 1925 ( modern Persian : Azar ) which has month-names derived from those used by the Zoroastrian calendar. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, Adar

7260-513: The eponymous Yazata . The rituals for purifying a fire are performed 1,128 times a year. In the Avestan language , ātar is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ātarš , source of Persian ātaš (fire). It was once thought to be etymologically related to the Avestan āθrauuan / aθaurun ( Vedic atharvan ), a type of priest, but that is now considered unlikely (Boyce, 2002:16). The ultimate etymology of ātar , previously unknown (Boyce, 2002:1),

7370-428: The fire himself, this time alone. On the coins of Shapur III ( r. 283–388), a divinity appears to be emerging from the fire. The shape of the fire altar in the coins of Yazdegerd II ( r. 438–457) are similar to those in present-day fire temples. The legend introduced under Ardeshir yields to a mint mark and year of issue under Peroz ( r. 457–484), a feature evident in all the coins of the remaining dynasty. Atar

7480-443: The first hypervariable segment of the MtDNA suggested that "genetic relationships among Caucasus populations reflect geographical rather than linguistic relationships", with Armenians and Azerbaijanians being "most closely related to their nearest geographical neighbours". Another 2004 study that looked into 910 MtDNAs from 23 populations in the Iranian plateau, the Indus Valley, and Central Asia suggested that populations "west of

7590-501: The foundations of the modern Iranian state. The Safavids, alongside their Ottoman archrivals, dominated the entire West Asian region and beyond for centuries. At its peak under Shah Abbas the Great , it rivaled its political and ideological archrival the Ottoman empire in military strength. Noted for achievements in state-building, architecture, and the sciences, the Safavid state crumbled due to internal decay (mostly royal intrigues), ethnic minority uprisings and external pressures from

7700-405: The founder of the Sassanid Empire , many of the kings of the dynasty issued one or more coins with a symbol of Fire on the verso, and seals and bullae with the fire symbol were common. The first silver coins of the empire have helmeted busts of Ardashir I ( r. 226–241) or his father Papak on the obverse (a figure of the ruling monarch on the obverse is consistent throughout the dynasty), with

7810-408: The fourth century AD, and Albania remained a Christian state until the 8th century. Sassanid control ended with their defeat by the Rashidun Caliphate in 642 AD through the Muslim conquest of Persia . The Arabs made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by Prince Javanshir , surrendered in 667. Between the ninth and tenth centuries, Arab authors began to refer to

7920-455: The genetic background of Azeri people". The vast majority of Azerbaijanis live in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan . Between 12 and 23 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran, mainly in the northwestern provinces. Approximately 9.1 million Azerbaijanis are found in the Republic of Azerbaijan. A diaspora of over a million is spread throughout the rest of the world. According to Ethnologue , there are over 1 million speakers of

8030-443: The honored. The second were the atroshan , the "places of burning fire", which as Boyce (1997:ch. 3) notes, became more and more prevalent as the iconoclastic movement gained support. Following the rise of the Sassanid dynasty, the shrines to the Yazatas continued to exist, with the statues—by law—either being abandoned as empty sanctuaries, or being replaced by fire altars (so also the popular shrines to Meher/ Mithra which retained

8140-507: The important accomplishments of the Parliament was the extension of suffrage to women, making Azerbaijan the first Muslim nation to grant women equal political rights with men. Another important accomplishment of ADR was the establishment of Baku State University , which was the first modern-type university founded in Muslim East. By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia would attack

8250-487: The largest ethnic group in The Republic of Azerbaijan (over 90%), holding the second-largest community of ethnic Azerbaijanis after neighboring Iran. The literacy rate is very high, and is estimated at 99.5%. Azerbaijan began the twentieth century with institutions based upon those of Russia and the Soviet Union, with an official policy of atheism and strict state control over most aspects of society. Since independence, there

8360-481: The last period, the Turkic elements in Iran (Oghuz, with lesser admixtures of Uyghur, Qipchaq, Qarluq as well as Turkicized Mongols) were joined now by Anatolian Turks migrating back to Iran. This marked the final stage of Turkicization. 10th-century Arab historian Al-Masudi attested the Old Azeri language and described that the region of Azerbaijan was inhabited by Persians . Archaeological evidence indicates that

8470-453: The last quarter of the 19th century. Atar Atar , Atash , Azar ( Avestan : 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 , romanized:  ātar ) or Dāštāɣni , is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire , sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to be the visible presence of Ahura Mazda and his Asha through

8580-496: The middle Persian names ( kadag , man , and xanag are all words for an ordinary house) perhaps reflect a desire on the part of those who fostered the temple-cult [...] to keep it as close as possible in character to the age-old cult of the hearth-fire, and to discourage elaboration" (Boyce, 2002:9). The Indian Parsi -Zoroastrian practice of rendering the term athornan (derived from the Avestan language "athravan") as "fire-priest" in

8690-404: The mortar for crushing the branches of the sacred Haoma in his hand, is given happiness" ( Yasna 62.1; Nyashes 5.7) The Zoroastrian cult of fire is apparently much younger than Zoroastrianism itself and appears at approximately the same time as the shrine cult, first evident in the 4th century BCE (roughly contemporaneous with the introduction of Adar as a divinity). There is no allusion to

8800-728: The much-needed Baku. Vladimir Lenin said that the invasion was justified as Soviet Russia could not survive without Baku's oil . Independent Azerbaijan lasted only 23 months until the Bolshevik 11th Soviet Red Army invaded it, establishing the Azerbaijan SSR on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in Karabakh , Azeris did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 Azerbaijani soldiers died resisting what

8910-486: The name Darb-e Mehr —Mithra's Gate—that is today one of the Zoroastrian technical terms for a fire temple). Also, as Schippman observed ( loc. Cit. Boyce, 1975:462), even during the Sassanid era (226–650 CE) there is no evidence that the fires were categorized according to their sanctity. "It seems probable that there were virtually only two, namely the Atash-i Vahram [literally: "victorious fire", later misunderstood to be

9020-500: The name of Qizilbash while the latter goes back to the name of Qajars , having presumably emerged in Chechen and Ingush languages during the reign of Qajars in Iran in the 18th-19th centuries. Ancient residents of the area spoke Old Azeri from the Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages . In the 11th century AD with Seljuq conquests, Oghuz Turkic tribes started moving across

9130-655: The neighboring Armenians and Georgians —was slow to develop amongst the Tatars of the Russian Caucasus. According to the 1897 Russian Empire census , less than five percent of the Tatars were able to read or write. The intellectual and newspaper editor Ali bey Huseynzade (1864-1940) led a campaign to ‘Turkify, Islamise, modernise’ the Caucasian Tatars, whereas Mammed Said Ordubadi (1872-1950), another journalist and activist, criticized superstition amongst Muslims. After

9240-453: The neighboring Turkic population than they are to geographically distant Turkmen populations. Iranian-speaking populations from Azerbaijan (the Talysh and Tats ) are genetically closer to Azerbaijanis of the Republic than to other Iranian-speaking populations ( Persian people and Kurds from Iran, Ossetians , and Tajiks ). Several genetic studies suggested that the Azerbaijanis originate from

9350-547: The northern Azerbaijani dialect in southern Dagestan , Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian proper, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. No Azerbaijanis were recorded in the 2001 census in Armenia, where the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resulted in population shifts. Other sources, such as national censuses, confirm the presence of Azerbaijanis throughout the other states of the former Soviet Union . Azerbaijanis are by far

9460-747: The number of Azeris i.e. "Azerbaijanis" in Iran based on Iran's population demographics at 6 to 6.5 million. Azerbaijanis in Iran are mainly found in the northwest provinces: West Azerbaijan , East Azerbaijan , Ardabil , Zanjan , parts of Hamadan , Qazvin , and Markazi . Azerbaijani minorities live in the Qorveh and Bijar counties of Kurdistan , in Gilan , as ethnic enclaves in Galugah in Mazandaran , around Lotfabad and Dargaz in Razavi Khorasan , and in

9570-532: The official circles of Russia and the West". Then, in the 2000s, the figure decreased to 20 million; this time, at least within the Russian political establishment, the figure became "firmly fixed". This figure, Arakelova adds, has been widely used and kept up to date, only with a few minor adjustments. A cursory look at Iran's demographic situation however, shows that all these figures have been manipulated and were "definitely invented on political purpose". Arakelova estimates

9680-434: The oldest texts, it is only once addressed independently of Ahura Mazda . In this exception, atar is spoken of in the third person masculine singular: "He detects sinners by hand-grasping" ( Yasna 34.4). Altogether, "there are said to have been some 30 kinds of fiery tests in all." (Boyce, 2002:1) Also in the early texts, tangential to its role in establishing guilt, atar is the light of revelation through which Zoroaster

9790-599: The overall clustering with the other samples from the Western Silk Road. The eastern input into the Azerbaijani genetics was estimated to be roughly 25 generations ago, corresponding to the time of the Mongolian expansion . A 2002 study focusing on eleven Y-chromosome markers suggested that Azerbaijanis are genetically more related to their Caucasian geographic neighbors than to their linguistic neighbors. Iranian Azerbaijanis are genetically more similar to northern Azerbaijanis and

9900-456: The policies of the Iranian government in Iranian Azerbaijan and increased interaction with fellow Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan and satellite broadcasts from Turkey and other Turkic countries have revived Azerbaijani nationalism. In May 2006, Iranian Azerbaijan witnessed riots over publication of a cartoon depicting a cockroach speaking Azerbaijani that many Azerbaijanis found offensive. The cartoon

10010-412: The politically biased publications as "Azerbaijani minority of Iran", is considered to be the "highly speculative part of this theory". Even though all Iranian censuses of population distinguish exclusively religious minorities, numerous sources have presented different figures regarding Iran's Turkic-speaking communities, without "any justification or concrete references". In the early 1990s, right after

10120-517: The region between the Kura and Aras rivers as Arran . During this time, Arabs from Basra and Kufa came to Azerbaijan and seized lands that indigenous peoples had abandoned; the Arabs became a land-owning elite. Conversion to Islam was slow as local resistance persisted for centuries and resentment grew as small groups of Arabs began migrating to cities such as Tabriz and Maraghah . This influx sparked

10230-455: The region may reflect historical genetic admixture, perhaps as a result of invasive male migrations. In a comparative study (2013) on the complete mitochondrial DNA diversity in Iranians has indicated that Iranian Azeris are more related to the people of Georgia , than they are to other Iranians , as well as to Armenians . However the same multidimensional scaling plot shows that Azeris from

10340-589: The religious hierarchy". Resentment came with Pahlavi policies that suppressed the use of the Azerbaijani language in local government, schools, and the press. However, with the advent of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, emphasis shifted away from nationalism as the new government highlighted religion as the main unifying factor. Islamic theocratic institutions dominate nearly all aspects of society. The Azerbaijani language and its literature are banned in Iranian schools. There are signs of civil unrest due to

10450-487: The republic dissolved in May 1918, the leading Musavat party adopted the name "Azerbaijan" for the newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic , which was proclaimed on 27 May 1918, for political reasons, even though the name of "Azerbaijan" had been used to refer to the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran . The ADR was the first modern parliamentary republic in the Turkic world and Muslim world . Among

10560-566: The same century, in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia, an Azerbaijani national identity emerged at the end of the 19th century. In 1891, the idea of recognizing oneself as an "Azerbaijani Turk" was first popularized amongst the Caucasus Tatars in the periodical Kashkül . The articles printed in Kaspiy and Kashkül in 1891 are typically credited as being the earliest expressions of a cultural Azerbaijani identity. Modernisation—compared to

10670-563: The samples from Azeris in Northwest Iran "in the Mediterranean cluster close to Kurds, Gorgan, Chuvash (South Russia, towards North Caucasus), Iranians and Caucasus populations (Svan and Georgians)". This Mediterranean stock includes "Turkish and Caucasian populations". Azeri samples were also in a "position between Mediterranean and Central Asian" samples, suggesting Turkification "process caused by Oghuz Turkic tribes could also contribute to

10780-594: The term "Transcaucasian Tatars " was supplanted by "Azerbaijani Turks" and ultimately "Azerbaijanis." For some time afterwards, the term "Azerbaijanis" was then applied to all Turkic-speaking Muslims in Transcaucasia, from the Meskhetian Turks in southwestern Georgia , to the Terekemes of southern Dagestan , as well as assimilated Tats and Talysh . The temporary designation of Meskhetian Turks as "Azerbaijanis"

10890-539: The territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In Iran, Azerbaijanis such as Sattar Khan sought constitutional reform. The Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–11 shook the Qajar dynasty. A parliament ( Majlis ) was founded on the efforts of the constitutionalists, and pro-democracy newspapers appeared. The last Shah of

11000-641: The town of Gonbad-e Qabus in Golestan . Large Azerbaijani populations can also be found in central Iran ( Tehran # Alborz ) due to internal migration. Azerbaijanis make up 25% of Tehran 's population and 30.3% – 33% of the population of the Tehran Province , where Azerbaijanis are found in every city. They are the largest ethnic groups after Persians in Tehran and the Tehran Province. Arakelova notes that

11110-402: The universe. So also Zoroaster's injunction to always pray in the presence of atar —either towards the sun, or towards their own hearths—so as to better concentrate their devotions on asha , righteousness, and the virtue that should be striven for ( Yasna 43.9, see also Boyce, 1975:455). The Gathic role of atar as the medium for detecting guilt is not directly evident in the later texts of

11220-516: The upper classes in cities of mixed populations. Similarly, customs among Azerbaijani villagers do not appear to differ markedly from those of Persian villagers. Azeris are famously active in commerce and in bazaars all over Iran their voluble voices can be heard. Older Azeri men wear the traditional wool hat, and their music & dances have become part of the mainstream culture. Azeris are well integrated, and many Azeri-Iranians are prominent in Persian literature , politics, and clerical world. There

11330-925: The widespread "cliché" among residents of Tehran on the number of Azerbaijanis in the city ("half of Tehran consists of Azerbaijanis"), cannot be taken "seriously into consideration". Arakelova adds that the number of Tehran's inhabitants who have migrated from northwestern areas of Iran, who are currently Persian-speakers "for the most part", is not more than "several hundred thousands", with the maximum being one million. Azerbaijanis have also emigrated and resettled in large numbers in Khorasan , especially in Mashhad . Generally, Azerbaijanis in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to Iran's Islamic Revolution . Despite friction, Azerbaijanis in Iran came to be well represented at all levels of "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as

11440-500: Was drawn by Mana Neyestani , an Azeri, who was fired along with his editor as a result of the controversy. One of the major incidents that happened recently was Azeris protests in Iran (2015) started in November 2015, after children's television programme Fitileha a ired on 6 November on state TV that ridiculed and mocked the accent and language of Azeris and included offensive jokes. As a result, hundreds of ethnic Azeris have protested

11550-480: Was effectively a Russian reconquest. The brief independence gained by the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918–1920 was followed by over 70 years of Soviet rule . Neverthelesss, it was in the early Soviet period that the Azerbaijani national identity was finally forged. After the restoration of independence in October 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan became embroiled in a war with neighboring Armenia over

11660-474: Was established by the consumption of this "guilt-detecting liquid". Similarly, in the Denkard , Adharbad Maraspand—the Sassanid era high-priest to whom the collation of the Avesta texts is attributed—is purported to have nine measures of "unburning molten zinc" applied to his chest as proof of accuracy of the sacred texts. Seen chronologically, the transition from atar as a vehicle of judgement to Atar Yazata

11770-575: Was interrupted by the Mongols in 1227, but it returned with the Timurids and then Sunni Qara Qoyunlū (Black Sheep Turkmen) and Aq Qoyunlū (White Sheep Turkmen), who dominated Azerbaijan, large parts of Iran, eastern Anatolia, and other minor parts of West Asia, until the Shi'a Safavids took power in 1501. The Safavids , who rose from around Ardabil in Iranian Azerbaijan and lasted until 1722, established

11880-643: Was most likely related to the existing administrative framework of the Transcaucasian SFSR , as the Azerbaijan SSR was one of its founding members. After the establishment of the Azerbaijan SSR, on the order of Soviet leader Stalin , the "name of the formal language" of the Azerbaijan SSR was also "changed from Turkic to Azerbaijani". The Chechen and Ingush names for Azerbaijanis are Ghezloy / Ghoazloy ( ГӀезлой / ГӀоазлой ) and Ghazaroy / Ghazharey ( ГӀажарой / ГӀажарей ). The former goes back to

11990-450: Was the seventh of the seven creations of the material universe. It is only with Adar 's assistance, who serves as the life-force, that the other six creations begin their work ( Bundahishn 3.7–8; more logically explained in Zatspram 3.77–83). Although Zoroastrians revere fire in any form, the temple fire is not literally for the reverence of fire, but together with clean water (see Aban ),

12100-511: Was widely spoken in said region for many centuries. Some Azerbaijanis of the Republic of Azerbaijan are believed to be descended from the inhabitants of Caucasian Albania , an ancient country located in the eastern Caucasus region, and various Iranian peoples which settled the region. They claim there is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, the aboriginal Caucasian population may have gradually been culturally and linguistically assimilated, first by Iranian peoples, such as

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