Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan (, , ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan,James Minahan. "Miniature Empires", Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998. is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic to the north.
Iranian Azerbaijan includes three northwestern Iranian provinces: West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan and Ardabil. Some authors also include Zanjan in this list, some in a geographical sense, others only culturally (due to the predominance of the Azeri Turkic population there). The region is mostly populated by Azerbaijanis, with minority populations of Kurds, Armenians, Tats, Talysh, Assyrians and Persians.
Iranian Azerbaijan is the land originally and historically called Azerbaijan, although the term was sometimes extended to the territories north of the Aras River. The toponym Azerbaijan derives from this land's name in Old Persian, Ātṛpātakāna (whence Ancient Greek Atropatene), via Middle Persian Adurbadagan. The Azerbaijani-populated Republic of Azerbaijan appropriated the name of the neighbouring Azerbaijani-populated region in Iran during the 20th century.: "Until 1918, when the Musavat regime decided to name the newly independent state Azerbaijan, this designation had been used exclusively to identify the Iranian province of Azerbaijan.": "The region to the north of the river Araxes was not called Azerbaijan prior to 1918, unlike the region in northwestern Iran that has been called since so long ago." Some people nowadays refer to Iranian Azerbaijan as "Southern Azerbaijan" and to the Republic of Azerbaijan as "Northern Azerbaijan", although others believe that these terms are irredentist and politically motivated.: "During the Soviet-era historical revisionism and myth-building intended to denounce imperialism, the notion of a "northern" and "southern" Azerbaijan was created and propagated throughout USSR. It was charged that the "two Azerbaijanis" once united were separated artificially by a conspiracy between imperial Russia and Iran".Ethnic Conflict and International Security, Edited by Michael E. Brown, Princeton University Press, 1993: "Under Soviet auspices and in accordance with Soviet nationalism, historical Azerbaijan proper was reinterpreted as 'Southern Azerbaijan', with demands for liberation and, eventually, for 're'-unification with Northern (Soviet) Azerbaijan – a breathtaking manipulation. No need to point to concrete Soviet political activities in this direction, as in 1945–46 etc. The really interesting point is that in the independent former Soviet republics this typically Soviet ideological pattern has long outlasted the Soviet Union."
Following military defeats at the hands of the Russian Empire, Qajar Persia ceded all of its territories in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia to Russia via the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828. The territories south of the Aras River, which comprised the region historically known as Azerbaijan, became the new north-west frontier of the Persian Empire and later Iran.Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond pp 728–729 ABC-CLIO, 2 dec. 2014 The territories north of the Aras River, which were not known by the name Azerbaijan at the time of their capture by Russia, were absorbed into the Russian Empire, renamed the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic during the country's short-lived independence from 1918 to 1920,Siavash Lornejad, Ali Doostzadeh. ON THE MODERN POLITICIZATION OF THE PERSIAN POET NEZAMI GANJAVI CCIS, 2012 p 10 incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, and finally became the independent Republic of Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union dissolved.
Etymology and usage The name Azerbaijan derives from Old Persian *Ātṛpāta (whence Greek Atropates), the name of a Persian satrap (governor) of Medea in the Achaemenid Empire, who ruled a region found in modern Iranian Azerbaijan which was called Ātṛpātakāna (Atropatene). The name *Ātṛpāta is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire." The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, which translates literally to: "We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata." According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam: "In Middle Persian the name of the province was called Āturpātākān, older new-Persian Ādharbādhagān (آذربادگان/آذرآبادگان), Ādharbāyagān, at present Āzerbāydjān/Āzarbāydjān, Greek Atropatēnḗ (Ἀτροπατηνή), Byzantine Greek Adravigánon (Ἀδραβιγάνων), Armenian Atrpatakan (Ատրպատական), Syriac Adhorbāyghān." The name Atropat in Middle Persian was transformed to Adharbad and is connected with Zoroastrianism. A famous Zoroastrian priest by the name of Adarbad Mahraspandan is well known for his counsels. Azerbaijan, due to its numerous fire-temples, has been regarded in a variety of historic sources as the birthplace of the prophet Zoroaster, although modern scholars have not yet reached an agreement on the location of his birth.G. Gnoli, Zoroaster's time and homeland, Naples, 1980
In the early 19th century, Qajar Iran was forced to cede to Imperial Russia its Caucasian territories north of the Aras River (modern-day Dagestan, eastern Georgia, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan), through the treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828). Following the disintegration of the Russian Empire in 1917, as well as the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, in 1918, the ruling Musavat government adopted the name Azerbaijan for the newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was proclaimed on May 27, 1918. This was in reference to the similarity between the populations of the new republic and the Iranian region. Iran was displeased with this naming, as it "implied a territorial claim [on Iranian Azerbaijan].": "On May 27, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA) was declared with Ottoman military support. The rulers of the DRA refused to identify themselves as [Transcaucasian] Tatar, which they rightfully considered to be a Russian colonial definition. [...] Neighboring Iran did not welcome the DRA's adoption of the name of "Azerbaijan" for the country because it could also refer to Iranian Azerbaijan and implied a territorial claim."
Some sources state that, prior to 1918, the name Azerbaijan was exclusively used to identify the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, located south of the Aras River.: "Until 1918, when the Musavat regime decided to name the newly independent state Azerbaijan, this designation had been used exclusively to identify the Iranian province of Azerbaijan.": "The region to the north of the river Araxes was not called Azerbaijan prior to 1918, unlike the region in northwestern Iran that has been called since so long ago."Siavash Lornejad, Ali Doostzadeh. ON THE MODERN POLITICIZATION OF THE PERSIAN POET NEZAMI GANJAVI CCIS, 2012 p 10: "In the post Islamic sense, Arran and Shirvan are often distinguished, while in the pre-Islamic era, Arran or the western Caucasian Albania roughly corresponds to the modern territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the Soviet era, in a breathtaking manipulation, historical Azerbaijan (northwestern Iran) was reinterpreted as "South Azerbaijan" in order for the Soviets to lay territorial claim on historical Azerbaijan proper which is located in modern-day northwestern Iran. However, there are instances of the term Azerbaijan being used for the territories north of the Aras River in earlier times. In his (sometimes contradictory) references to Azerbaijan's borders, the 13th-century Muslim geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi at one point extends them to the Kura River, encompassing the region known as Arran. According to Xavier de Planhol, this indicates that "from this period the conception of Azarbaijan tended to be extended to the north and that its meaning was being rapidly transformed." In the Safavid era, Azerbaijan designated territories both north and south of the Aras River. In the late 18th century, Russian, Armenian, and Persian sources used the term Azerbaijan in reference to the territories north of the Aras—without, however, attaching a specific ethnic association to the term. For example, in his letter dated June 5, 1798, to King George XII of Georgia, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar referred to Georgia as "the best land in Azerbaijan", while in 1783 the Russian general S. D. Burnashev wrote of the "characteristic rebelliousness of the peoples of Azerbaijan" in connection with the Erivan Khanate.. According to the Iranian-born American historian Maziar Behrooz: "“Azarbaijan” was not used in any definite or clear manner for the area north of the River Aras in the pre-modern period. In some instances, the name Azarbaijan was used in a manner that included the Aran region immediately to the north of the River Aras, but this was rather an exception."
History Antiquity Early antiquity The oldest kingdom known in Iranian Azerbaijan is that of the Mannea who ruled a region south-east of Lake Urmia centered around modern Saqqez. The Manneans were a confederation of Iranian and non-Iranian groups. According to Ran Zadok:
The Mannaeans were conquered and absorbed by an Iranian people called Matieni, and the country was called Matiene, with Lake Urmia called Lake Matianus. Matiene was later conquered by the Medes and became a satrapy of the Median empire and then a sub-satrapy of the Median satrapy of the Persian Empire.
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Medes were an:
Ātṛpātakāna
After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, he appointed (328 BC) as governor the Persian general Atropates, who eventually established an independent dynasty. The region, which came to be known as Ātṛpātakāna in Old Persian and Atropatene or Media Atropatene in Greek (after *Ātṛpāta/Atropates), was much disputed. In the 2nd century BC, it was liberated from Seleucid domination by Mithradates I of the Arsacid dynasty.
Later, large parts of the region were conquered by or became vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia which created the provinces of Nor Shirakan, Vaspurakan, and Paytakaran in this region and reached its greatest extent in the 1st century BC, under Tigranes the Great. Vaspurakan, of which large parts were located in what is modern-day Iranian Azerbaijan, is described as the cradle of Armenian civilization.
Ādurbādagān
In 226 AD, the region submitted to the first Sasanian emperor, Ardashir I and became a province of the Sasanian Empire named Ādurbādagān (Middle Persian). Under the Sasanians, Azerbaijan was ruled by a marzubān, and, towards the end of the period, belonged to the family of Farrokh Hormizd.
On 26 May 451 AD, the Battle of Avarayr, a pivotal battle for the history of Armenians, was fought on the Avarayr Plain (at what is modern-day Churs in West Azerbaijan Province) between the Armenian army led by Vardan Mamikonian and Sasanian Persia. Although the Persians were victorious on the battlefield, it was a pyrrhic victory, paving the way to the Nvarsak Treaty (484 AD), which affirmed Armenia's right to practice Christianity freely.: "So spirited was the Armenian defense, however, that the Persians suffered enormous losses as well. Their victory was pyrrhic and the king, faced with troubles elsewhere, was forced, at least for the time being, to allow the Armenians to worship as they chose.": "The Armenian defeat in the Battle of Avarayr in 451 proved a pyrrhic victory for the Persians. Though the Armenians lost their commander, Vartan Mamikonian, and most of their soldiers, Persian losses were proportionately heavy, and Armenia was allowed to remain Christian."
In the 7th century, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius briefly held the region until peace was made with the Sasanians.
Middle Ages Muslim conquest and early Islamic period