Azərbaycan Paris Sülh Konfransında (1918-1920)

 
 

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84 
THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN IN THE CAUCASUS 
 
I 
 
ORIGIN OF AZERBAIJAN. - THE INDEPENDENT KHANATES AND 
THEIR DECLINE 
Origin the south-eastern region of the Caucasus, or properly speaking, 
Transcaucasia, as far as the shore of the Caspian sea, has been since immemorial 
times peopled by tribes partly Turkish, partly Tartar. These tribes, as well as the 
Iranian elements, were, in the course of time, mixed with the Turks, a people more 
numerous, stronger and more energetic. Owing to this intermixture, the natives of this 
part of the Caucasus were called Turks of Azerbaijan, or merely Azerbaijanians, from 
the name of the country in which they lived. 
Situated on the highroad of the migrations of the Barbarians, who used to 
pass there during their invasions, Azerbaijan comprised a very large territory 
extending from the Caucasian Mountains to the Caspian sea and beyond the lake of 
Urmia. The centre, which gave its name to the country, was the part adjoining the 
Caspian sea, now called Region of Baku, together with the city of this name and its 
famous naphtha-springs. Because of the abundance of gases hidden in its bosom, this 
region was known of old as the “Country of everlasting fires “, or “Fire-Mines”, and 
thence comes its name Azerbaijan or Az-eristan, from the ancient Persian word : 
Azerpatigan. Though dating from a prehistoric period, this name is justified not only 
by history fires, but by the power of these which in the region of Baku, explain better 
than any written records the origin of Azerbaijan. It has persisted, like the fires 
themselves, in spite of all the chances of fortune, political and social upheavals and 
economic changes. Its fields have seen many a famous conqueror, from Alexander the 
Great of Macedonia to Tamerlane, - Arabs, Persians, Osmanli-Turks and others. 
These intrusions necessarily produced profound changes in the territorial and ethnical 
composition of Azerbaijan. One part of the country was annexed by military force to 
Persia, while the other remained within the geographical limits of the Caucasus, - a 
circumstance which greatly influenced the destiny of its population.