Tālīsh (; ; ) is a region in the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea. It is a homeland of the indigenous Talysh people, who inhabit the region and speak the Talysh language. The territory and the language set apart Talish from its neighbors.
Talish is now divided between Azerbaijan and Iran. It stretches north from the Sefīd-Rūd river, which cuts through the Alborz mountains in Iran's Gilan province, to the Aras river in the south of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The main city of the region and its Talysh people is Lankaran (), the majority of the population of which is ethnically Talysh.
Names and etymology
The name is first found in the Armenian translation of the Alexander Romance as "Tʿalis̲h̲". The Persian pronunciation of the name in plural form was "Talishan" ().
The region is also known as Talyshistan and Talyshstan.
History
In the Ilkhanate times, the Ispahbads of Gilan have had a principality on the borders of Gilan and Mughan, with a fortress and villages. In later times, a local Khan had his seat at Lankaran and was subject to the Persian monarchs. Peter the Great (), Emperor of Russia, first occupied the region during 1722–1732 and then it was returned to Safavid Persia. It was again occupied by Russia in 1796 and during the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813). In 1813 after the Storming of Lankaran most parts of the region were annexed by Russia and a smaller part remained within Persia. The Treaty of Gulistan of 24 October 1813, awarded to Russia the greater part of Talish, the part north of the Astara river. In the aftermath of the war, in order to weaken the power of Mir Mostafa Khan, Fath 'Ali Shah divided Persian Talish among 5 local families (Karganrud, Asalem, Talish-Dulab, Shandarmin, Masal) and created the Khamsa of Talish.
Antiquity The earliest evidence of human presence in the region dates back to the Middle Paleolithic period, with findings near Masouleh and Buzeyir Cave. These include stone tools, such as Levallois cores, likely made by Neanderthals over 40,000 years ago. The Cadusii, an Iranian tribe, are generally assumed to settled the entire Talish region.Piller, C. K. (2013). The Cadusii in Archaeology? Remarks on the Achaemenid Period (Iron Age IV) in Gilan and Talesh. Iran and the Caucasus, 17(2), 115-151. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573384X-20130202, p. 118
On the territory of Talish, especially its northern (Soviet) part, graves dating back to the second millennium BC were found.
Middle Ages In medieval Arab historiography, the Talysh country was called al-Tailasan – the Arabic correspondence to the Persian "Talishan". Muhammad at-Tabari writes about the Talysh (calling them "Tailasan"): "In the mountains surrounding Aturpatakan there lived such peoples as the Gelae [and] Talysh, who did not obey the Arabs and retained their freedom and independence." According to the medieval Persian author Hamdalla Qazvini, the Tavalish region was located between the cities of Sultaniye and Ardabil (the name is the Arabic plural form of the word "Talish").
Although in the Middle Ages and Modern Times most of the people from Talish wrote in Persian, there is a whole group of poets who wrote in Talysh and the Gilani dialect close to it. The earliest Talysh poets include Seiyed Sharafshah Dulai, who lived in the 15th century.
Early modern period Talish has traditionally been associated with either Gilan or Mughan, especially with Ardabil, the center of the latter, which appears to have shared a similar linguistic and ethnic bond with Talish prior to the Turkicization of Iranian Azerbaijan. This connection was still apparent during the time of the early Safavids, who were descended from Kurdish mystic Safi-ad-Din Ardabili (died 1334), a disciple of Zahed Gilani (died 1301), who was of probable Talysh descent. Two out of the four Sufi teachers of the first Safavid monarch Shah Ismail I () carried the epithet "Talishi". Other figures with the same epithet served as governmental officials under the Safavids and their successors. Several Talysh chieftains were one of the first supporters of the Safavids, who gave them the governorship of Astara, which was part of the province of Azerbaijan. The governor of Astara was also known as the hakem (governor) of Talish, which indicates that Astara was the capital of the district. From 1539 and onwards the governorship of Astara was held hereditarily by the family of Bayandor Khan Talesh.
Talish was composed of various fiefs which would sometimes be granted to other emirs than the governor of Talish. For instance, Mohammad Khan Torkman was given control over a number of fiefs in Talish and Mughan in 1586. Later in 1684, Safiqoli Khan was one of the officers in control of Lankaran, and Hoseyn was another. Meanwhile, the unnamed governor of Talish lived in Ardabil. The Safavid shahs (kings) of Iran attempted to control local Talysh chiefs by subordinating them to obedient officials. Nevertheless, despite their centralization strategy, the Safavid administration was unable to terminate the local autonomy in the South Caucasus. Officially, the local chiefs were not hereditary lords, but officials whose rank were acknowledged by a royal farman (edict) which in reality was an acceptance of their local autonomy. The familial succession of the chiefs gave rise to dynasties that dominated local affairs and sought to consolidate their influence whenever the national government weakened.
During the decline of Safavid rule in the early 18th-century, Talysh leaders attempted to establish autonomous principalities. During the Russian invasion of Iran, the people of Talish volunteered to fight for the Safavid monarch Tahmasp II (). The latter was unable to provide them with military or material support; all he could do was give them an ineffective permit that allowed them to collect the taxes of Rasht. In 1723, Russians and Ottomans agreed to divide northern and western Iran between themselves. While the Caspian provinces were under Russian control, one of the local leaders Mir-Abbas Beg, who claimed to be a seyyed (descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), worked together with the Russian commander Mikhail Matyushkin. By the end of 1735, the reconquest of northern and western Iran was completed, being led by the Iranian military leader Nader. It was also during this period that he set his sights on the throne, as he believed his campaigns had stabilised the country and brought him enough fame. On 8 March 1736, he was crowned the new shah of Iran, marking the start of the Afsharid dynasty.
Revolt of 1629 In 1629, the Talysh peasants and the urban poor opposed Iranian rule and local feudal lords. The uprising, which began in the summer of 1629, soon spread to the surrounding area. About 30,000 people took part in the uprising. The Safavid ruler Shah Sefi sent troops against the rebels under the command of the ruler of Astara, Saru Khan of Talysh. In one battle, about 7,000 rebels were killed. The Talysh uprising, one of the strongest uprisings of the masses against the ruling class, was mercilessly suppressed.Азәрбајҹан Совет Енсиклопедијасы (азерб.) / гл. ред. Дж. Б. Гулиев. – Баку: Кызыл Шярк, 1986. – Т. IX. – С. 135 – 623 с.
Revolts in Gilan (1744–1747) In 1744–1747, many uprisings broke out in Gilan. In 1744, uprisings began among the Talysh. Discontent was caused by the policy of Nadir Shah and the goal was to overthrow him. The movements began in the region of Astara and later covered the whole of Gilan. To extinguish the uprising of the Talysh, troops were sent to the region, which destroyed many of the rebellious villages and captured the instigators. But the rebels did not pacify and the unrest continued until 1746. The Talysh were not satisfied with the tax policy that robbed the population. At the head of the uprising was Kalb Hussein-bek, who declared disobedience to the supreme authority, who was supported and helped by the Talysh. To pacify Kalb Hussein-bek, Nadir Shah sends troops numbering 1.5 thousand soldiers, but the troops do not reach defeat. Further, Nadir Shah sends 3,000 Afghans against the rebels, but the Afghans cannot pacify the rebellion either. Then the military leaders try to promise forgiveness to the Talysh if they pacify.Арунова М.Р., Ашрафян К.З. Государство Надир-шаха Афшара. Очерки общественных отношений в Иране 30-40-x годов XVIII века / Отв. ред. Рейснер И. М.. – Москва: Восточная литература (издательство), 1958. – С. 177-178. – 284 с. The policy of negotiations played a decisive role in pacifying the uprising, when the tribal elite went over to the side of the Shah. They helped the Shah's troops to decapitate the uprising by catching the Talysh village elders and punishing them. The headless movement died down and the uprisings ceased.
Talysh Khanate
In the second half of the 18th to early 19th, the Talysh Khanate existed in the region. During the Russian-Persian war, the Talysh khan Mir Mustafa Khan took the side of Russia. In 1809, the Talysh Khanate became a Russian protectorate. In early August 1812, a 20,000-strong Persian army blockaded Lankaran and on August 9 captured the fortress. By the end of December, a Russian detachment under the command of General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky approached Lankaran, and on the night of January 1, 1813 began an assault on the fortress, which ended with the fall of the citadel. According to the treaty of Gulistan, such places as Kargara, Namin and Zuvand passed from the Talysh Khanate to Persia. However, the Persian court did not accept the loss of Transcaucasia and insistently demanded a revision of the borders. First of all, this concerned the border in Talysh, which was not defined at all in the Gulistan Treaty.
Partition of Talysh In 1828, the Turkmanchay peace treaty was signed between Russia and Persia, which ended the next Russian-Persian war, according to which part of Zuvant was annexed to Talish, and most of Ujarri and part of the Astara magal (from the Astara River to Chilivan) went to Persia. In accordance with the order of General Ivan Paskevich, the chief governor of Georgia, dated May 2, 1828, the “Provisional Talysh administration” was established under the leadership of a chairman (manager) appointed from Russian military ranks. "Provisional Talysh gowerment" began to function on July 26, 1828. Until 1831 inclusive, it was directly subordinate to the chief governor in Georgia. But after the suppression of the uprising in March 1831 by the adherents of Mir-Hasan Khan, this "rule" was transferred to the jurisdiction of the military district chief of the Muslim provinces of the Transcaucasus in the city of Shusha (the so-called Administrator of Muslim provinces and the Talysh Khanate). And on the basis of the "Institution for the administration of the Transcaucasian region" dated April 10, 1840, the "Provisional Talysh government" was abolished. In the same period, the Caspian region was formed on the territory of Transcaucasia, which consisted of 7 counties, one of which was Talyshinsky county. Finally, in 1846, on the basis of the “Regulations on the Division of the Transcaucasian Territory” dated December 14, 1845, the Talyshinsky district was renamed into Lenkoransky and became part of the newly formed Shemakha (from 1859 – Baku) province of the Russian Empire. At the turn of the 20th century, there lived a famous Talysh poet – Safibaba Roshan-dehi.Исмаилов Э. Э. Генеалогия Талышинских-Талышхановых. — Баку, 2001. — С. 10. — 82 с. — . Обозрение российских владений за Кавказом в статистическом, этнографическом, топографическом и финансовом отношениях. — Санкт-Петербург, 1836. — Т. 3. — С. 175—176.
Northern Talysh under Russian, Soviet and Azerbaijani rule Russian revolution