KURDS IN AZERBAIJAN
By Ph.D Shamil Askerov
Translated from Turkish by Nizameddin Rzayev
Source: Kurdler Azerbaycanda
KurdishMedia, UK
9/18/2006
Samîl Esker Kosesi, PhD
The settlement of Kurds in Azerbaijan dates back to ancient times,
which is supported by numerous historical sources. Antique Greek
historians provide us with valuable information about the Kurds
living in modern-day Azerbaijan. The works published both in
Azerbaijan and abroad are also valuable sources of knowledge about
the Kurdish inhabitants of these lands. For example, the book titled
"Sources on the History of Azerbaijan" (pages 68-69) talks about the
heroic resistance of Balasican (Balasacan, Balasakan) Kurds against
the invading Caliph Armies headed by Salman Ibn Rebiyye during the
Islamic expansion (Sources on the History of Azerbaijan, Baku, 1989,
page 72). The same book describes Balasican as a province located
on the Mugan plains on the right-hand side shores of lower ends of
Kura River. The same source also mentions Sabalan and Seturdan Kurds
in Azerbaijan.
The fact that Terter river (Terter river taking its source from
Kelbajar mountains joins Kura River) was called the "Waters of Kurds"
in the14th century (during the time of Hurufi leaders-Neimi-Nesimi in
Azerbaijan) is another strong evidence of Kurds’ more ancient presence
in modern day Azerbaijan than is generally thought (Isa Huseynov,
"Meshher" novel, Baku, 1978, page 141)
Sheddadi dynasty
A Kurdish dynasty Sheddadis ruled large parts of modern day
Azerbaijan and Armenia from Dvin (951-971) and Ganja (971-1174) for
223 years. During this period, 20 Kurdish Kings between the reigns
of Muhammad Ibn Sheddad and Shehanshah ruled Azerbaijan.
Sheddadis were well-known for their massive construction and
engineering projects such as building roads, bridges, mosques
etc. After the Ganja earthquake they rebuilt Ganja as an even more
magnificent Sheddadi capital than before in a very short time.
Several historians talk about their policy of construction and justice
with great admiration. The 18 years’ rein of Kurdish King Abulesvar
Shavur in Ganja, famous for his far-sightedness, justice and wisdom
saw the completion of historic construction projects. One of the most
famous monuments built during Shavur’s reign are the still surviving
Ganja Doors conserved in the museums of Republic of Georgia.
Another famous construction masterpiece by Sheddadis was the Xudaferin
Bridge over Araks River which has also survived as a magnificent work
of craftsmanship and engineering until today. Xudaferin Bridge was
built during the reign of Sheddadi King Fezl (History of Azerbaijan,
Baku, 1994, page 283).
A classic Azerbaijani poet Getran Tebrizi in his hundreds of eulogies
(gita and madhiyyas) dedicated to Sheddadi Kings commended their
accomplishments and exalted them as the unrivaled leaders of the
region.
Tebrizi devoted more than 50 eulogies (medhiyye and gaside) to Shaddadi
Kings Ebdulhasan Eli Leshkeri and Ebdulxelil Jefer. Altogether, He
wrote more than 150 eulogies (gitas) about Sheddadi Kings. (Getran
Tebrizi, Divan, Azerbaijan Science Academy Press, Baku, 1967)
Deportation of 24 Kurdish tribes to Azerbaijan
Sharafname by Sheref Xan Bitlisi (Sharafname, Moscow, 1967, page 370,
in Russian) and other sources tell us that Shah Abbas I of Iran moved
16 or 24 Kurdish tribes to Azerbaijan to fortify the borders of Safavid
Empire. In the 19th century sources we find the traces of these 24
Kurdish tribes in Dereleyez (Dereleyez being part of Azerbaijan at that
time was later attached to Armenia and renamed as Azizbeyov). A book
published in St. Petersburg provides the following information about
them: After the rivalry between Kurdish bey Nebi bey and Karabakh xan,
the Shah of Iran called Nebi bey and invested him with the duty to
protect the borders of Eastern Dereleyez. The Kurds under the local
rule of Nebi bey moved from Karabakh to Dereleyez in 1813. At that
time there were 44 villages and 910 families in Dereleyez. Of these
families 663 were Kurdish, 247 were Armenian families.
The same source also deals with 9 Kurdish tribes of the famous 24s
which were Haci Shamli, Shadimanli, Gechovchu, Kulikanli, Hesenanli,
Bozlu, Ferixkanli, Pusyan and Milli (Statistics of Nakhchevan Region)
Orientalists Shopen in his work " The historic situation of Armenian
province during its annexation to Russian Empire" published in
1852 identified and studied the following 22 Shiite Kurdish tribes
deported to Karabakh by Shah Abbas I: Karachorlu, Hesenanli, Kulikanli,
Shadimanli, Milli, Sheylanli, Tehmezli, Eliyanli, Bergushad, Babali,
Kulluxchu, Gelovchu, Ferixkanli, Sisyanli, Terterli, Haci Samli,
Sultanli, Gulukhanli, Bozlu, Elikyanli, Kolani, Pusyanli
Also, a well-known Azerbaijani historian Alekberov did an extensive
research on the mentioned Kurdish tribes.( A. Alekberov "Esseys on the
study of Kurdish culture" in Russian, Baku 1936, page 40-62) All the
mentioned tribes used to live in Kelbajar, Lachin, Gubadlu, Zengilan
and Cebrayil until the occupation of Red Kurdistan by Armenian troops.
Another source
Memmedhesen Velili (Baharli), in his Russian-language book "Azerbaijan:
geographical-natural, ethnographic and economic research" published
in 1921 and later translated into Azeri in 1993, did a brief research
on the Kurds of Azerbaijan. Baharli concluded that 20 thousand Kurds
lived in Azerbaijan in 1917.
The researcher has left us some very useful and detailed information
about the Kurdish tribes in Azerbaijan. The author writes "One of
the most influential chiefs of Shahseven tribe-Kurd bey had three
sons who branched out into three generations.
Poladbeyli generation, Demirbeyli generation, and Guzelbeyli
generation. Presently, there exist Poladbeyli and Demirbeyli
generations in Azerbaijan.
Other brunches that sprang out from the tribe of Kurd bey are Xelifeli,
Buduglu, Muradli, Zergerli, and Malli (page 44)
Baharli claims that one of the most assimilated nations in Azerbaijan
are the Kurds. According to him, Pusyan Kurds and Gorus Kurds migrated
into Azerbaijan from Nothern Kurdistan and Hamadan, Iran while all
the other Kurds are the indigenous inhabitants of Azerbaijan.
Baharli notes that most of the mentioned Kurds have undergone
linguistic assimilation and forgotten their native Kurdish. Only older
members of these communities could speak Kurdish. He provides us the
following information about some Kurdish villages of Nakhchevan: "The
ancestors of the people in Kilit village of Nakhchevan were exiled by
Nadir Shah after their rebellion. They spoke their native Kurdish until
the end of the 19th century but they mostly speak Azerbaijani/Turkish
now" The author establishes that the indigenous Kurdish communities
are concentrated in the following provinces of Azerbaijan.
Guba province: GaraKurdu and Garacali villages Javad province:
Garalar(4 villages), Garacalilar, Bouyk Gorus, Jir Gorus villages
Shamakhi province: Kurd, Garali, Gorushcheperli villages Goychay
province: Jir Kurd, Kurd Shaban, Kurdkarabakhli, Kurdmashi, Kurd,
Garachalli, Garaca, Gorusaga, Goruskend villages Lenkeran province:
Bergushad, Kurabbasli, Kurdler, Boyukgarali, Kichikgarali villages
Agdash province: Kurdler Zengezur province: Garalar, Garachalli,
Sisyan, Kurdhaci, Gazikurdarli, Kurdeli, Kurdgala Gazakh province:
Garalar Jebrayil province: Kurdmahmudlu, Kurd Mahrizli, Kurdchapik,
Kurdefendiler Jevanshir province: Bergushad, Kurdbaragi, Gazi Kurdeli,
Kurdler, Kurdbirdeamanyan; Gence province: Sefikurd Shusha province:
Kurdgaradagli, Kurdler Sherur-Dereleyez province: : Pesyan (Pusyan)
(page.
56-57)
Despite its usefulness, Baharli’s research sufferers from serious
shortcomings and does not report other well-known historical knowledge
about the Kurds of Azerbaijan. For instance, in his book, the author
has failed to give us any information about the 24 Kurdish tribes
deported to Azerbaijan by Shah Abbas I in the 16th century, and made
no mention of either their names or their settlement areas. The book
also omits two sizable Kurdish villages -Bakhchakurd and Balakurd in
Gence province (modern-day Goranboy district).
1926 Census
The results of population census conducted in 1926 were published two
years later in the book "The population of Caucasus" in Tiflis. At
the time one of total 13 provinces present in Azerbaijan was called
Red Kurdistan. According to the census, Kurds made up 72.3 percent
of 51,426 people residing in 480 settlements of Red Kurdistan, the
other 26.7 percent being Azeri Turks. The census established the
size of Kurdish population in Azerbaijan altogether at 41,193 persons
(21.280 men, 19.913 women), Besides 67 Kurdish residents of foreign
origin were also entered in the census figures.
Pyotr Lerx about Kurds
A Russian ambassador to Iran and kurdologist P. Lerx in his research
"Studies on the Kurds of Iran and their forefathers Haldeys" also
talks about Kurds in Azerbaijan. The book is a very useful source
of knowledge about Garachorlu, Hesenanli, Kulikanli, Shadimanli,
Haci Samli, Tehmezli, Xanazekli, Cavadli, Ferixkanli, Sultanli,
Milli, Bozlu, Bayandurlu and other Kurdish tribes (page 88) in
Azerbaijan. Lerx alos notes that these tribes had undergone serious
linguistic assimlation to the degree that only the members of old
generation could speak their native Kurdish
All of the above-mentioned Kurdish tribes cited by Lerx were living
in Red Kurdistan until its fall to Armenian Armies (1991-1993). There
were 22 Ferixkanli, 12 Hesenanli, 3 Haci Shamli, 3 Milli, and several
Xanazekli villages in Kelbajar.
M.A Skibitski about Kurds
The map prepared by M.A Skibitski about Kurds of Azerbaijan is another
important source of information relevant to concerned topic. ("Karabakh
map at the end of 19th century", "Azerbaijan newspaper", Baku, May 5,
1990 N.1)
According to M.A Skibitski, in the 19th century Kurds mostly lived in
Karabakh; the plateaus and canyons of Jevanshir province (Geza) crossed
by Terter and Tutgu rivers; the canyons and plateaus of Zengezur
province (Geza) crossed by Bergushad and Hekeri (Hakkari) Rivers; and
Jebrayil province; The author estimated that in only Karabakh there
were 3,500 Kurdish families, 18,603 Kurds and 67 Kurdish villages in
1893. During the same time, there were 3408 Armenian families and
47 Armenian villages in Karabakh. As is evident, Kurds had 22 more
villages and 102 more families than Armenians in Karabakh in 1893.
Settlements outside the boundaries of Red Kurdistan bearing the names
with the root "Kurd"
Despite the policy of the communist regime to rename the settlements
bearing the root "Kurd" in Azerbaijan over the 70 years, there
are still the following villages and towns possessing this root in
different districts of Azerbaijan Republic, all of them beyond the
boundaries of Red Kurdistan excluding Lachin and Gubadly districts
listed below.
Agdam district: two villages named Kurdler (Kurds) Agjabedi district:
Kurdler Berde district: Kurdborachi and Kurdler Gubadli district:
Kurdmahluzlu and Kurdler Guba district: Kurdarkh Zakatala district:
Kurdemir Goranboy district: Bakhchakurd, Balakurd, Sefikurd; Goychay
district: Jir Kurd, Kurdshaban, Kurd, Kurdemir Imishli district:
Kurdmahmudlu Ismayilli district: Kurdvan, Kurdmashi, Kurdeldarbeyli
Lachin district: Kurdhaci Lerik district: Kurdeser Masalli district:
Kurdebazli Oguz district: Kurd Fizuli district: Kurdler, Kurdmahmudlu
Xankendi district: Kurdler Sherur district: Kurdkend, Kurdchullu
Baku: Kurdexani (Kurdekhani) town Kurdemir district: Kurdemir town
(Administrative-territorial divisions of Azerbaijan Republic, Baku,
1961).
–Boundary_(ID_BaXq6UjrN+U1qzVk/v/7p g)–