title: Serialism

text: The twelve-tone series loses its imperative function as a prohibiting, regulating, and patterning authority; its working-out is abandoned through its own constant-frequent presence: all 66 intervallic relations among the 12 pitches being virtually present. Prohibited intervals, like the octave, and prohibited successional relations, such as premature note repetitions, frequently occur, although obscured in the dense contexture. The number twelve no longer plays any governing, defining rôle; the pitch constellations no longer hold to the limitation determined by their formation. The dodecaphonic series loses its significance as a concrete model of shape (or a well-defined collection of concrete shapes) is played out. And the chromatic total remains active only, and provisionally, as a general reference.


title: Serialism

text: In the 1960s Pousseur took this a step further, applying a consistent set of predefined transformations to preexisting music. One example is the large orchestral work "Couleurs croisées" ("Crossed Colours", 1967), which performs these transformations on the protest song "We Shall Overcome", creating a succession of different situations that are sometimes chromatic and dissonant and sometimes diatonic and consonant. In his opera "Votre Faust" ("Your Faust", 1960–68) Pousseur used many quotations, themselves arranged into a "scale" for serial treatment. This "generalised" serialism (in the strongest possible sense) aims not to exclude any musical phenomena, no matter how heterogeneous, in order "to control the effects of tonal determinism, dialectize its causal functions, and overcome any academic prohibitions, especially the fixing of an anti-grammar meant to replace some previous one".


title: Serialism

text: At about the same time, Stockhausen began using serial methods to integrate a variety of musical sources from recorded examples of folk and traditional music from around the world in his electronic composition "Telemusik" (1966), and from national anthems in "Hymnen" (1966–67). He extended this serial "polyphony of styles" in a series of "process-plan" works in the late 1960s, as well as later in portions of "Licht", the cycle of seven operas he composed between 1977 and 2003.


title: Serialism

text: In the late 19th and early 20th century, composers began to struggle against the ordered system of chords and intervals known as "functional tonality". Composers such as Debussy and Strauss found ways to stretch the limits of the tonal system to accommodate their ideas. After a brief period of free atonality, Schoenberg and others began exploring tone rows, in which an ordering of the 12 pitches of the equal-tempered chromatic scale is used as the source material of a composition. This ordered set, often called a row, allowed for new forms of expression and (unlike free atonality) the expansion of underlying structural organizing principles without recourse to common practice harmony.


title: Serialism

text: Twelve-tone serialism first appeared in the 1920s, with antecedents predating that decade (instances of 12-note passages occur in Liszt's "Faust Symphony" and in Bach.) Schoenberg was the composer most decisively involved in devising and demonstrating the fundamentals of twelve-tone serialism, though it is clear it is not the work of just one musician. In Schoenberg’s own words, his goal of was to show constraint in composition. Consequently, some reviewers have jumped to the conclusion that serialism acted as a predetermined method of composing to avoid the subjectivity and ego of a composer in favour of calculated measure and proportion.


title: Serialism

text: Along with John Cage's indeterminate music (music composed with the use of chance operations) and Werner Meyer-Eppler's aleatoricism, serialism was enormously influential in postwar music. Theorists such as Milton Babbitt and George Perle codified serial systems, leading to a mode of composition called "total serialism", in which every aspect of a piece, not just pitch, is serially constructed. Perle's 1962 text "Serial Composition and Atonality" became a standard work on the origins of serial composition in the music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern.


title: Serialism

text: The serialization of rhythm, dynamics, and other elements of music was partly fostered by the work of Olivier Messiaen and his analysis students, including Karel Goeyvaerts and Boulez, in postwar Paris. Messiaen first used a chromatic rhythm scale in his "Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus" (1944), but he did not employ a rhythmic series until 1946–48, in the seventh movement, "Turangalîla II", of his "Turangalîla-Symphonie". The first examples of such integral serialism are Babbitt's "Three Compositions for Piano" (1947), "Composition for Four Instruments" (1948), and "Composition for Twelve Instruments" (1948). He worked independently of the Europeans.


title: Serialism

text: Several of the composers associated with Darmstadt, notably Stockhausen, Goeyvaerts, and Pousseur, developed a form of serialism that initially rejected the recurring rows characteristic of twelve-tone technique in order to eradicate any lingering traces of thematicism. Instead of a recurring, referential row, "each musical component is subjected to control by a series of numerical proportions". In Europe, some serial and non-serial music of the early 1950s emphasized the determination of all parameters for each note independently, often resulting in widely spaced, isolated "points" of sound, an effect called first in German "punktuelle Musik" ("pointist" or "punctual music"), then in French "musique ponctuelle", but quickly confused with "pointillistic" (German "pointillistische", French "pointilliste"), the term associated with the densely packed dots in Seurat's paintings, even though the concept was unrelated.


title: Serialism

text: Pieces were structured by closed sets of proportions, a method closely related to certain works from the de Stijl and Bauhaus movements in design and architecture some writers called "serial art", specifically the paintings of Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, Bart van Leck, Georg van Tongerloo, Richard Paul Lohse, and Burgoyne Diller, who had sought to "avoid repetition and symmetry on all structural levels and working with a limited number of elements".


title: Serialism

text: Stockhausen described the final synthesis in this manner:So serial thinking is something that's come into our consciousness and will be there forever: it's relativity and nothing else. It just says: Use all the components of any given number of elements, don't leave out individual elements, use them all with equal importance and try to find an equidistant scale so that certain steps are no larger than others. It's a spiritual and democratic attitude toward the world. The stars are organized in a serial way. Whenever you look at a certain star sign you find a limited number of elements with different intervals. If we more thoroughly studied the distances and proportions of the stars we'd probably find certain relationships of multiples based on some logarithmic scale or whatever the scale may be.


title: Serialism

text: Stravinsky's adoption of twelve-tone serial techniques shows the level of influence serialism had after the Second World War. Previously Stravinsky had used series of notes without rhythmic or harmonic implications. Because many of the basic techniques of serial composition have analogs in traditional counterpoint, uses of inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion from before the war do not necessarily indicate Stravinsky was adopting Schoenbergian techniques. But after meeting Robert Craft and other younger composers, Stravinsky began to study Schoenberg's music, as well as that of Webern and later composers, and to adapt their techniques in his work, using, for example, serial techniques applied to fewer than twelve notes. During the 1950s he used procedures related to Messiaen, Webern and Berg. While it is inaccurate to call them all "serial" in the strict sense, all his major works of the period have clear serialist elements.


title: Serialism

text: During this period, the concept of serialism influenced not only new compositions but also scholarly analysis of the classical masters. Adding to their professional tools of sonata form and tonality, scholars began to analyze previous works in the light of serial techniques; for example, they found the use of row technique in previous composers going back to Mozart and Beethoven. In particular, the orchestral outburst that introduces the development section halfway through the last movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 is a tone row that Mozart punctuates in a very modern and violent way that Michael Steinberg called "rude octaves and frozen silences".


title: Serialism

text: Ruth Crawford Seeger extended serial control to parameters other than pitch and to formal planning as early as 1930–33 in a fashion that goes beyond Webern but was less thoroughgoing than the later practices of Babbitt and European postwar composers. Charles Ives's 1906 song "The Cage" begins with piano chords presented in incrementally decreasing durations, an early example of an overtly arithmetic duration series independent of meter (like Nono's six-element row shown above), and in that sense a precursor to Messiaen’s style of integral serialism. The idea of organizing pitch and rhythm according to similar or related principles is also suggested by both Henry Cowell's "New Musical Resources" (1930) and the work of Joseph Schillinger.


title: Serialism

text: Some music theorists have criticized serialism on the basis that its compositional strategies are often incompatible with the way the human mind processes a piece of music. Nicolas Ruwet (1959) was one of the first to criticise serialism by a comparison with linguistic structures, citing theoretical claims by Boulez and Pousseur, taking as specific examples bars from Stockhausen's "Klavierstücke I & II", and calling for a general reexamination of Webern's music. Ruwet specifically names three works as exempt from his criticism: Stockhausen's "Zeitmaße" and "Gruppen", and Boulez's "Le marteau sans maître".


title: Serialism

text: In response, Pousseur questioned Ruwet's equivalence between phonemes and notes. He also suggested that, if analysis of "Le marteau sans maître" and "Zeitmaße", "performed with sufficient insight", were to be made from the point of view of wave theory—taking into account the dynamic interaction of the different component phenomena, which creates "waves" that interact in a sort of frequency modulation—the analysis "would accurately reflect the realities of perception". This was because these composers had long since acknowledged the lack of differentiation found in punctual music and, becoming increasingly aware of the laws of perception and complying better with them, "paved the way to a more effective kind of musical communication, without in the least abandoning the emancipation that they had been allowed to achieve by this 'zero state' that was punctual music". One way this was achieved was by developing the concept of "groups", which allows structural relationships to be defined not only between individual notes but also at higher levels, up to the overall form of a piece. This is "a structural method par excellence", and a sufficiently simple conception that it remains easily perceptible. Pousseur also points out that serial composers were the first to recognize and attempt to move beyond the lack of differentiation within certain pointillist works. Pousseur later followed up on his own suggestion by developing his idea of "wave" analysis and applying it to Stockhausen's "Zeitmaße" in two essays.


title: Serialism

text: Later writers have continued both lines of reasoning. Fred Lerdahl, for example, in his essay "Cognitive Constraints on Compositional Systems", argues that serialism's perceptual opacity ensures its aesthetic inferiority. Lerdahl has in turn been criticized for excluding "the possibility of other, non-hierarchical methods of achieving musical coherence," and for concentrating on the audibility of tone rows, and the portion of his essay focusing on Boulez's "multiplication" technique (exemplified in three movements of "Le Marteau sans maître") has been challenged on perceptual grounds by Stephen Heinemann and Ulrich Mosch. Ruwet's critique has also been criticised for making "the fatal mistake of equating visual presentation (a score) with auditive presentation (the music as heard)".


title: Serialism

text: In all these reactions discussed above, the "information extracted", "perceptual opacity", "auditive presentation" (and constraints thereof) pertain to what defines serialism, namely use of a series. And since Schoenberg remarked, "in the later part of a work, when the set [series] had already become familiar to the ear", it has been assumed that serial composers expect their series to be aurally perceived. This principle even became the premise of empirical investigation in the guise of "probe-tone" experiments testing listeners' familiarity with a row after exposure to its various forms (as would occur in a 12-tone work). In other words the supposition in critiques of serialism has been that, if a composition is so intricately structured by and around a series, that series should ultimately be clearly perceived or that a listener ought to become aware of its presence or importance. Babbitt denied this:


title: Serialism

text: Seemingly in accord with Babbitt's statement, but ranging over such issues as perception, aesthetic value, and the "poietic fallacy", Walter Horn offers a more extensive explanation of the serialism (and atonality) controversy.


title: Serialism

text: Within the community of modern music, exactly what constituted serialism was also a matter of debate. The conventional English usage is that the word "serial" applies to all twelve-tone music, which is a subset of serial music, and it is this usage that is generally intended in reference works. Nevertheless, a large body of music exists that is called "serial" but does not employ note-rows at all, let alone twelve-tone technique, e.g., Stockhausen's "Klavierstücke I–IV" (which use permuted sets), his "Stimmung" (with pitches from the overtone series, which is also used as the model for the rhythms), and Pousseur's "Scambi" (where the permuted sounds are made exclusively from filtered white noise).


title: Serialism

text: When serialism is not limited to twelve-tone techniques, a contributing problem is that the word "serial" is seldom if ever defined. In many published analyses of individual pieces the term is used while actual meaning is skated around.


title: Serialism

text: Due to Babbitt's work, in the mid-20th century serialist thought became rooted in set theory and began to use a quasi-mathematical vocabulary for the manipulation of the basic sets. Musical set theory is often used to analyze and compose serial music, and is also sometimes used in tonal and nonserial atonal analysis.


title: Serialism

text: The basis for serial composition is Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, where the 12 notes of the chromatic scale are organized into a row. This "basic" row is then used to create permutations, that is, rows derived from the basic set by reordering its elements. The row may be used to produce a set of intervals, or a composer may derive the row from a particular succession of intervals. A row that uses all of the intervals in their ascending form once is an all-interval row. In addition to permutations, the basic row may have some set of notes derived from it, which is used to create a new row. These are "derived sets".


title: Serialism

text: Because there are tonal chord progressions that use all twelve notes, it is possible to create pitch rows with very strong tonal implications, and even to write tonal music using twelve-tone technique. Most tone rows contain subsets that can imply a pitch center; a composer can create music centered on one or more of the row's constituent pitches by emphasizing or avoiding these subsets, respectively, as well as through other, more complex compositional devices.


title: Serialism

text: To serialize other elements of music, a system quantifying an identifiable element must be created or defined (this is called "parametrization", after the term in mathematics). For example, if duration is serialized, a set of durations must be specified; if tone colour (timbre) is serialized, a set of separate tone colours must be identified; and so on.


title: Serialism

text: Composition using twelve-tone serial methods focuses on each appearance of the collection of twelve chromatic notes, called an aggregate. (Sets of more or fewer pitches, or of elements other than pitch, may be treated analogously.) One principle operative in some serial compositions is that no element of the aggregate should be reused in the same contrapuntal strand (statement of a series) until all the other members have been used, and each member must appear only in its place in the series. Yet, since most serial compositions have multiple (at least two, sometimes as many as a few dozen) series statements occurring concurrently, interwoven with each other in time, and feature repetitions of some of their pitches, this principle as stated is more a referential abstraction than a description of the concrete reality of a musical work that is termed "serial".


title: Serialism

text: A series may be divided into subsets, and the members of the aggregate not part of a subset are said to be its "complement". A subset is "self-complementing" if it contains half of the set and its complement is also a permutation of the original subset. This is most commonly seen with "hexachords", six-note segments of a tone row. A hexachord that is self-complementing for a particular permutation is called "prime combinatorial". A hexachord that is self-complementing for all the canonic operations—inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion—is called "all-combinatorial".


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The Flag Resolution, passed on June 14, 1777, stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The United States Army also celebrates the U.S. Army birthday on this date; Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; on August 3, 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. Flag Day is not an official federal holiday. Title 36 of the United States Code, Subtitle I, Part A, CHAPTER 1, § 110 is the official statute on Flag Day; however, it is at the president's discretion to officially proclaim the observance. On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday, beginning in the town of Rennerdale. New York Consolidated Laws designate the second Sunday in June as Flag Day, a state holiday.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Perhaps the oldest continuing Flag Day parade is in Fairfield, Washington. Beginning in 1909 or 1910, Fairfield has held a parade every year since, with the possible exception of 1918 and 2020, and celebrated the "Centennial" parade in 2010, along with some other commemorative events. Appleton, Wisconsin, claims to be the oldest National Flag Day parade in the nation, held annually since 1950.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Quincy, Massachusetts, has had an annual Flag Day parade since 1952 and claims it "is the longest-running parade of its kind" in the U.S. The largest Flag Day parade had been held annually in Troy, New York until 2017, which based its parade on the Quincy parade and typically draws 50,000 spectators. In addition, the Three Oaks, Michigan, Flag Day Parade is held annually on the weekend of Flag Day and is a three-day event and they claim to have the largest flag day parade in the nation as well as the oldest.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Several people and/or organizations played instrumental roles in the establishment of a national Flag Day celebration. They are identified here in chronological order.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The earliest reference to the suggestion of a "Flag Day" is cited in "Kansas: a Cyclopedia of State History", published by Standard Publishing Company of Chicago in 1912. It credits George Morris of Hartford, Connecticut:


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: To Victor Morris of Hartford, Conn., is popularly given the credit of suggesting "Flag Day," the occasion being in honor of the adoption of the American flag on June 14, 1777. The city of Hartford observed the day in 1861, carrying out a program of a patriotic order, praying for the success of the Federal arms and the preservation of the Union.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: He moved to Chicago to attend dental school and, in June 1886, first publicly proposed an annual observance of the birth of the United States flag in an article titled "The Fourteenth of June," published in the Chicago "Argus" newspaper. In June 1888, Cigrand advocated establishing the holiday in a speech before the "Sons of America," a Chicago group. The organization founded a magazine, "American Standard", in order to promote reverence for American emblems. Cigrand was appointed editor-in-chief and wrote articles in the magazine as well as in other magazines and newspapers to promote the holiday.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: On the third Saturday in June 1894, a public school children's celebration of Flag Day took place in Chicago at Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks. More than 300,000 children participated, and the celebration was repeated the next year.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Cigrand became president of the American Flag Day Association and later of the National Flag Day Society, which allowed him to promote his cause with organizational backing. Cigrand once noted he had given 2,188 speeches on patriotism and the flag.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Cigrand generally is credited with being the "Father of Flag Day," with the "Chicago Tribune" noting that he "almost singlehandedly" established the holiday.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: William T. Kerr, a native of Pittsburgh and later a resident of Yeadon, Pennsylvania, founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania in 1888, and became the national chairman of the American Flag Day Association one year later, serving as such for fifty years. He attended President Harry S. Truman's 1949 signing of the Act of Congress that formally established the observance.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: In 1889, the principal of a free kindergarten, George Bolch, celebrated the Revolution and celebrated Flag Day, as well.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Sarah Hinson, a school teacher in Buffalo, NY began Flag Day exercises, (teaching the children to salute the Flag and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance) to instill in her pupils proper respect for the nation's flag, holding the first ceremony in 1891. She chose June 14th because that was the day in 1777 when the Continental Congress accepted the design of the "American" Flag.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: In 1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a descendant of Benjamin Franklin and the president of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania, attempted to have a resolution passed requiring the American flag to be displayed on all Philadelphia's public buildings. In 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to make Flag Day a legal holiday.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The Elizabeth Duane Gillespie Junior High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: American fraternal order and social club the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks has celebrated the holiday since the early days of the organization and allegiance to the flag is a requirement of every member. In 1907, the BPOE Grand Lodge designated by resolution June 14 as Flag Day. The Grand Lodge of the Order adopted mandatory observance of the occasion by every Lodge in 1911, and that requirement continues.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The Elks prompted President Woodrow Wilson to recognize the Order's observance of Flag Day for its patriotic expression.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: During the 1913 Paterson silk strike, IWW leader "Big" Bill Haywood asserted that someday all of the world's flags would be red, "the color of the working man's blood." In response, the city's leaders (who opposed the strike) declared March 17 to be "Flag Day," and saw to it that each of the city's textile mills flew an American flag. This attempt by Paterson's leaders to portray the strikers as un-American backfired when the strikers marched through the city with American flags of their own, along with a banner that stated:


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: For Flag Day 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched an international "United Flag Day" or "United Nations Day", celebrating solidarity among the World War II Allies, six months after the Declaration by United Nations. It was observed in New York City as the "New York at War" parade, and throughout the United States and internationally from 1942 to 1944.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The week of June 14 (–; –; –) is designated as "National Flag Week." During National Flag Week, the president will issue a proclamation "urging the people to observe the day as the anniversary of the adoption on June 14, 1777, by the Continental Congress of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States of America." The flag should also be displayed on all government buildings. Some organizations, such as the towns of Quincy, Massachusetts and Dedham, Massachusetts, hold parades and events in celebration of America's national flag and everything it represents.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The National Flag Day Foundation holds an annual observance for Flag Day on the second Sunday in June. The program includes a ceremonial raising of the national flag, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the singing of the national anthem, a parade and other events.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore, Maryland, birthplace of the 1813 flag that inspired Francis Scott Key (1779–1843) to pen his famous poem a year later, has celebrated Flag Day since the 1927. In that year, a museum was created in the home of flag-banner-pennant maker Mary Pickersgill on the historic property.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The annual celebrations on Flag Day and also Defenders Day in Maryland (September 12, since 1814) commemorate the Star-Spangled Banner and its creator Mary Pickersgill, for the huge emblem that flew over Fort McHenry guarding Baltimore harbor during the British Royal Navy's three days attack in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 (1812–1815).


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: The Betsy Ross House, home of legendary Betsy Ross, has long been the site of Philadelphia's observance of Flag Day.


title: Flag Day (United States)

text: Coincidentally, June 14 is also the date for the annual anniversary of the Bear Flag Revolt in California. On June 14, 1846, 33 American settlers and mountain men arrested the Mexican general in command at Sonoma, and declared the "Bear Flag Republic" on the Pacific Ocean coast as an independent nation. A flag emblazoned with a bear, a red stripe, a star and the words "California Republic" was raised to symbolize independence from Mexico of the former province of Alta California. The Bear Flag was adopted as California's state flag upon joining the Union as the 31st state in 1850, after being annexed by the United States following the Mexican–American War of 1846–1849. Prominently flying both the US and state flags on June 14 is a tradition for some Californians.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The history of Azerbaijan is understood as the history of the region now forming the Republic of Azerbaijan. Topographically, the land is contained by the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains in the north, the Caspian Sea in the east, and the Armenian Highlands in the west. In the south, its natural boundaries are less distinct, and here the country merges with the Iranian Plateau.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The entity of Caucasian Albania was established on its soil in ancient times. The Caucasian Albanian language spoken by the founders of Caucasian Albania was most likely a predecessor of the now endangered Udi language spoken by the Udi people. From the time of the Medes and the Achaemenid Empire, until the coming of the Russians in the 19th century, the territories of the republic of Azerbaijan and Iran usually shared the same history. Azerbaijan retained its Iranian character even after the Arab conquest of Iran and the conversion of the area's inhabitants to Islam. Some four centuries later, Oghuz Turkic tribes under the Seljuq dynasty entered the area, and Azerbaijan gained a large amount of Turkic inhabitants. Over the centuries, as the original population mingled with the immigrant Turkic nomads, the number of native Persian speakers gradually diminished, and a Turkic dialect nowadays known as Azerbaijani (or Azeri Turkic) gained hold.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: One of the regional dynasties, the Shirvanshahs, after becoming a state under the roof of the Timurid Empire, they helped the Timurids in the war against the Golden Horde State. After Timur's death, two Turkic independent and rival states emerged in the region, namely Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu. The Shirvanshahs, on the other hand, became independent again in this process and strengthened their local governments.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the Russo-Persian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828, Qajar Iran was forced to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire; the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Czarist Russia and Qajar Iran.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The region north of the Aras was Iranian until it was occupied by Russia during the 19th century. According to the Treaty of Turkmenchay, Qajar Iran recognized Russian sovereignty over the Erivan, Nakhchivan and Talysh Khanates (the last parts of Azerbaijan still in Iranian hands).


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In the ensuing period, in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia, an Azerbaijani national identity emerged at the end of the 19th century. After more than 80 years of being part of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918. The name "Azerbaijan", adopted by the ruling Musavat Party for political reasons,<ref name="Sochineniya, vol II/1"></ref> had been used to identify the adjacent region of northwestern Iran. Azerbaijan was invaded by Soviet forces in 1920, which led to the establishment of the Azerbaijan SSR. In the early Soviet period, the Azerbaijani national identity was finally forged. Azerbaijan remained under Soviet rule until the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, after which the independent Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed. Hostile relations with the neighboring Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been focal points within Azerbaijani politics since independence.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijani prehistory includes the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. The Stone Age is divided into three periods: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Paleolithic is divided into three periods: lower, middle, and upper. It began with the first human habitation in the region and lasted until the 12th millennium BCE.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Azykh Cave in Khojavend District is the site of one of Eurasia's oldest archaic-human habitations. Remnants of pre-Acheulean culture at least 700,000 years old were found in the lowest layers of the cave. In 1968, Mammadali Huseynov discovered a 300,000-year-old partial jawbone of an early human in its Acheulean-age layer; it was the oldest human remains ever discovered in the Soviet Union.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan's lower Paleolithic, known for its Guruchay culture, has features similar to the culture of Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge. The Paleolithic is also represented by finds at Aveidag, Tağlar and Damjily Caves, Zar, Yatagery, Dash Salakhly, Qazma and other sites.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Mesolithic, which lasted from approximately 12,000 to 8,000 BCE, is represented by caves in Gobustan National Park (near Baku) and Damjili (in Qazakh District). Rock carvings in Gobustan depict hunting, fishing, work and dancing. Petroglyphs dating from 8,000 to 5,000 years ago depict long boats (similar to Viking ships), indicating a connection with Continental Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Neolithic, during the seventh and sixth millennia BCE, is represented by the Shulaveri-Shomu culture in Agstafa District; finds at Damjili, Gobustan, Kultepe (in Nakhchivan) and Toyretepe, and the Neolithic Revolution in agriculture.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Chalcolithic (or Eneolithic), from the sixth to the fourth millennium BCE, was the period of transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. The Caucasus Mountains are rich in copper ore, facilitating the development of copper smelting in Azerbaijan. A number of Chalcolithic settlements in Shomutepe, Toyratepe, Jinnitepe, Kultepe, Alikomektepe and IIanlitepe have been discovered, and carbon-dated artifacts indicate that inhabitants built homes, made copper tools and arrowheads, and were familiar with non-irrigated agriculture.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Bronze Age began in the second half of the fourth millennium BCE and ended in the second half of the second millennium BC in Azerbaijan, and the Iron Age began in about the seven and sixth centuries BCE. The Bronze Age is divided into three eras (early, middle and late), and have been studied in Nakhchivan, Ganja, Mingachevir and Dashkasan District.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The early Bronze Age is characterized by the Kura–Araxes culture, and the middle Bronze Age by painted earthenware or pottery culture. The late Bronze Age is demonstrated in Nakhchivan and by the Khojali-Gadabay and Talish-Mugan cultures.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Research in 1890 by Jacques de Morgan in the mountains of Talysh, near Lankaran, revealed over 230 late-Bronze and early-Iron Age burials. E. Rösler discovered late-Bronze Age materials in Karabakh and Ganja between 1894 and 1903. J. Hummel conducted research from 1930 to 1941 in Goygol District and Karabakh at sites known as Barrows I and II and other late-Bronze Age sites.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Archaeologist Walter Crist of the American Museum of Natural History discovered a 4,000-year-old, Bronze Age version of hounds and jackals in Gobustan National Park in 2018. The game, popular in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia at the time, was identified in the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat IV.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Caucasian Albanians may be the earliest known inhabitants of Azerbaijan. Early invaders included the Scythians during the 9th century BCE. The South Caucasus became part of the Achaemenid Empire around 550 BCE, and Zoroastrianism spread in Azerbaijan.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Achaemenids were defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. After the 247 BCE fall of the Seleucid Empires in Persia, the Kingdom of Armenia ruled portions of what is today Azerbaijan from 190 BCE to 428 CE. The Arsacid dynasty of Armenia was a branch of the Parthian Empire, and Caucasian Albania (present-day Azerbaijan and Dagestan) was under Parthian rule for the next several centuries. The Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the 1st century BCE, primarily remaining a semi-independent vassal state until the Parthians were deposed in 252 and the kingdom became a province of the Sasanian Empire. Caucasian Albania's King Urnayr adopted Christianity as the state religion during the fourth century, and Albania was a Christian state until the eighth century. Although it was subordinate to Sasanid Persia, Caucasian Albania retained its monarchy. Sasanid control ended with its 642 defeat by the Rashidun Caliphate in the Muslim conquest of Persia.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The migration and settlement of Eurasian and Central Asian nomads has been a regional pattern in the history of the Caucasus from the Sassanid-Persian era to the 20th-century emergence of the Azerbaijani Turks. Among the Iranian nomads were the Scythians, Alans and Cimmerians, and the Khazars and Huns made incursions during the Hunnic and Khazar eras. Derbent was fortified during the Sasanid era to block nomads from beyond the North Caucasus pass who did not establish permanent settlements.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the overthrow of the Median Empire, Azerbaijan was invaded by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BCE and integrated into the Achaemenid empire. This early Persian rule enabled the rise of Zoroastrianism and other Persian cultural influences. Many Caucasian Albanians came to be known as fire worshippers, a Zoroastrian practice.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Achaemenid Empire lasted for over 250 years before it was conquered by Alexander the Great, leading to the rise of Hellenistic culture throughout the former Persian empire. The Seleucid Greeks inherited the Caucasus after Alexander's death in 323 BCE, but were beset by pressure from Rome, secessionist Greeks in Bactria, and the Parni: a nomadic East Iranian tribe who made inroads into the northeastern Seleucid domain from the late 4th to the 3rd century BCE; this allowed local Caucasian tribes to establish an independent kingdom for the first time since the Median invasion.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Albanian kingdom coalesced around a Caucasian identity to forge a state in a region of empire-states. During the second or first century BCE the Armenians curtailed the southern Albanian territories and conquered Karabakh and Utik, inhabited by Albanian tribes who included the Utians, Gargarians and Caspians. At this time, the border between Albania and Armenia was the Kura.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: As the region became an arena of wars when the Roman and Parthian Empires began to expand, most of Albania was briefly dominated by Roman legions under Pompey; the south was controlled by the Parthians. A rock carving of what is believed to be the easternmost Roman inscription, by Legio XII Fulminata during the reign of Domitian, survives just south-west of Baku in Gobustan. Caucasian Albania then came fully under Parthian rule.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In 252–253, Caucasian Albania was conquered and annexed by the Sasanian Empire. A vassal state, it retained its monarchy; the Albanian king had no real power, however, and most civil, religious, and military authority was held by the Sasanid marzban. After the Sasanid victory over Rome in 260, the victory and the annexation of Albania and Atropatene were described in a trilingual inscription by Shapur I at Naqsh-e Rostam.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Urnayr (343-371), related by marriage to Shapur II (309-379), held power in Albania. With a somewhat-independent foreign policy, he allied with the Sasanian Shapur. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, the Albanians provided military forces (particularly cavalry) to Shapur's armies in their attacks against Rome. The siege of Amida (359) ended in a Sasanian victory, and some Albanian regions were returned. Marcellinus noted that the Albanian cavalry played a role in the siege similar to that of the Xionites, and the Albanians were commended for their alliance with Shapur:


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Close by him [Šapur II] on the left went Grumbates, king of the Chionitae, a man of moderate strength, it is true, and with shriveled limbs, but of certain greatness of mind and distinguished by the glory of many victories. On the right was the king of the Albani, of equal rank, high in honour


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the 387 division of Armenia between Byzantium and Persia, the Albanian kings regained control of the provinces of Uti and Artsakh (south of the Kur) when the Sasanian kings rewarded them for their loyalty to Persia.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Medieval Armenian historians such as Movses Khorenatsi and Movses Kaghankatvatsi wrote that the Albanians were converted to Christianity during the fourth century by Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia. Urnayr accepted Christianity, was baptised by Gregory, and declared Christianity his kingdom's official religion.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Mihranids (630-705) arrived in Albania from Gardman during the early seventh century. Partav (now Barda) was the dynasty's administrative centre. According to M. Kalankatli, the dynasty was founded by Mehran (570-590) and Varaz Grigor (628-642) assumed the title of "prince of Albania".


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Partav was Albania's capital city during the reign of Grigor's son, Javanshir (642-681), who demonstrated his allegiance early to Sasanian shah Yazdegerd III (632-651). He led the Albanian army as its "sparapet" from 636 to 642. Despite the Arab victory in the 637 battle of Kadissia, Javanshir fought as an ally of the Sasanians. After the 651 fall of the Sasanian Empire to an Arab caliphate, he shifted his allegiance to the Byzantine Empire three years later. Constans II protected Javanshir, who defeated the Khazars near the Kura in 662. Three years later the Khazars successfully attacked Albania, which became its tributary in exchange for the return of captives and cattle. Javanshir established diplomatic relations with the caliphate to protect his country from invasion via the Caspian Sea, meeting with Muawiyah I in Damascus in 667 and 670, and Albania's taxes were reduced. Javanshir was assassinated in 681 by rival Byzantine nobles. After his death, the Khazars again attacked Albania; Arab troops entered in 705 and put Javanshir's last heir to death in Damascus, ending the Mihrani dynasty and beginning caliphate rule.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Muslim Arabs defeated the Sasanian and Byzantine Empires as they marched into the Caucasus, making Caucasian Albania a vassal state after Javanshir's 667 surrender. Between the ninth and 10th centuries, Arab authors began calling the region between the Kura and Aras "Arran". Arabs from Basra and Kufa came to Azerbaijan, seizing abandoned lands.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: At the beginning of the eighth century, Azerbaijan was the centre of the caliphate–Khazar–Byzantine wars. In 722–723, the Khazars attacked Arab Transcaucasian territory. An Arabian army led by Al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah drove the Khazars back across the Caucasus. Al-Jarrah fought his way north along the west Caspian coast, recovering Derbent and advancing with his army to the Khazar capital of Balanjar, captured the capital of the Khazar khanate and placed prisoners around Gabala. Then al-Jarrah returned to Sheki.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: During the ninth century, the Abbasid Caliphate dealt with uprisings against Arab rule. The Khurramites, led by Babak Khorramdin, staged a persistent revolt. Babak's victories over Arab generals were associated with his seizure of Babak Fort, according to Arab historians who said that his influence extended to Azerbaijan: "southward to near Ardabil and Marand, eastward to the Caspian Sea and the Shamakhi district and Shervan, northward to the Muqan (Moḡan) steppe and the Aras riverbank, westward to the districts of Jolfa, Nakjavan, and Marand".


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate, the territory of the contemporary Azerbaijan Republic was ruled by dynasties which included the Iranian Shaddadids, Shirvanshahs and the Salarid, Sajid, and Buyid dynasties.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Shirvanshah, Shīrwān Shāh or Sharwān Shāh, was the title of the rulers of Shirvan: a Persianized dynasty of Arab origin. The Shirvanshahs maintained a high degree of autonomy as local rulers and vassals from 861 to 1539, a continuity which lasted longer than any other dynasty in the Islamic world.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: V.F Minorsky in his book titled "A History of Sharvan and Darband in the 10th–11th Centuries" distinguishes four dynasties of Shirvanshahs; l. The Shirvanshahs, (the Sassanids designated them for the protection of northern frontier); 2. Mazyadids, 3.Kasranids; 4.Derbent Shirvanshahs or Derbent dynasty.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: At the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century they began wars with Derbent (this rivalry lasted for centuries), and in the 1030's they had to repel the raids of the Rus, and Alans.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The last ruler of the Mazyadid was Yazid ibn Ahmad, and from 1027 to 1382, the Kasranids dynasty began to rule the Shirvanshahs. In 1032 and 1033, the alans attacked the territory of Shamakhi, but were defeated by the troops of the Shirvanshahs. The Kasranid dynasty ruled the state independently until 1066 when the Seljuk tribes came to the territory of Azerbaijan, Shirvanshah I Fariburz accepted dependence on them, preserving internal independence.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Shirvan was reportedly independent during two periods: under the legendary sultan Manuchehr and Akhsitan I (who built Baku), and under the 15th-century House of Derbent. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the Shirvanshahs were vassals of the Mongol and Timurid empires.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Shirvanshahs Khalilullah I and Farrukh Yassar presided over a stable period during the mid-15th century, and Baku's Palace of the Shirvanshahs (which includes mausoleums) and the Khalwati Sufi khanqah were built during their reign. The Shirvanshahs were Sunnis, and opposed to the Shia Islam of the Safavid order. The Safavid leader Shaykh Junayd was killed in a 1460 skirmish with the Shirvanishah, leading to sectarian animosity.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Sajid dynasty was an Islamic dynasty that ruled from 879–880 until 941. The Sajids ruled Azerbaijan first from Maragha and Barda and then from Ardabil.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: According to the Azerbaijani historian Abbasgulu aga Bakikhanov, from 908-909 to 919, the Sajids made the Shirvanshah Mazyadids dependent on them. Thus, at the beginning of the X century, the Sajid state included territories from Zanjan in the south to Derbent in the north, the Caspian Sea in the east, to the cities of Ani and Dabil in the west, covering most of the lands of modern Azerbaijan.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the death of Yusuf ibn Abu Saj, the last ruler of the Sajid dynasty Deysam ibn Ibrahim was defeated by the ruler of Daylam (Gilan) Marzban ibn Muhammad who ended the Sajid dynasty and founded the Sallarid dynasty in 941 with its capital in Ardabil.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Sallarid dynasty was an Islamic dynasty that ruled the territories of Azerbaijan, as well as Iranian Azerbaijan from 941 until 979.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In 943-944, the Russians organized a campaign to the Caspian region, which was many times more brutal than the 913/14 March. As a result of this campaign, which affected the economic situation in the region, Barda lost its position and essence as a large city and gave this position to Ganja.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Sallaryid dynasty was forced to recognize the rule of the Shaddadids, which strengthened in Ganja in 971. Then, they was assimilated by the Seljuk Turks at the end of the 11th century.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Shaddadids were a Muslim dynasty that ruled the area between the rivers Kura and Araxes from 951 to 1199 AD.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Muhammad ibn Shaddad was considered the founder of the Shaddadid dynasty. Taking advantage of the weakening of Sallarids, Muhammad ibn Shaddad took control over the city of Dvin and established his state. The Shaddadids eventually extended their power over the territories of Azerbaijan and ruled major cities such as Barda and Ganja.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Fadl ibn Muhammad built the Khodaafarin Bridges along the Aras River to reconnect the territories between the north and south banks of Aras. In 1030, he organized an expedition against the Khazar khaganate.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In 1030, a new attack on Shirvanshahs by 38 Russian ships took place, Shirvanshah Manučehr was heavily defeated. At that time, Fadl I's son Askuya rebelled in Beylagan. Fadl I's loyal son Musa paid money to the Russians to save Beylagan. As a result, Askuya's revolt was suppressed, and he was executed.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The history of what comprises the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan as part of the Seljuk Empire may have been more pivotal than the Arab conquest since it helped shape the identity of modern Azerbaijani Turks. At the beginning of the 11th century, the region was occupied by waves of Oghuz Turks from Central Asia. The first Turkic rulers were the Ghaznavids from northern Afghanistan, who took over part of Azerbaijan by 1030. They were followed by the Seljuks, a western branch of the Oghuz Turks who conquered Iran and the Caucasus. The Seljuks pressed on to Iraq, where they overthrew the Buyids in Baghdad in 1055.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: On September 30, 1139, a 7.7 earthquake struck Ganja, causing 200,000 to 300,000 deaths and great devastation.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Seljuks then ruled an empire which included Iran and Azerbaijan until the end of the 12th century. During their rule, the sultan Nizam ul-Mulk (a noted Persian scholar and administrator) helped to introduce a number of educational and bureaucratic reforms. His death in 1092 began the decline of the Seljuk empire, which hastened after the death of the sultan Ahmad Sanjar in 1153.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In 1075, Alp Arslan annexed the last of the Shaddadid territories. According to the anonymous "Tariḵ Bab al-Abwab", Alp Arslan appointed al-Bab and Arran as "iqta" to his slave Sav Tegin who seized these areas by force from Fażlun in 1075 and ended the dynasty’s reign. A branch of the Shaddadids continued to rule in the Ani emirate as vassals of the Seljuq Empire, while the others were assimilated by the Seljuqs.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Referring to the work of Minorsky, Azerbaijani historian Sara Ashurbeyli states that in 1066–67, during the reign of Shah Fariborz b. Sallār (1063–1096), ruler of Shirvanshahs, Seljuk Turks headed by commander Qarategin made great marches to Shamakhi and Baku, and then Shah I Fariburz accepted to be dependent on the Seljuks by paying 40,000 dinars a year.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The absence of the sultan's name on the coins minted during the reign of his son Akhsitan I indicates that the Seljuk state was already weakened and the Shirvanshahs were independent.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Seljuk possessions were ruled by atabegs, vassals of the Seljuk sultans who were sometimes "de facto" rulers themselves. The title of atabeg became common during Seljuk rule in the 12th century. From the end of the 12th to the early 13th century, Azerbaijan became a Turkic cultural centre. Palaces of the atabeg Eldiguz and the Shirvanshahs hosted distinguished guests, many of whom were Muslim artisans and scientists.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Atabeks of Azerbaijan’s power base was centered around Nakhchivan and would focus on Georgia. It expanded to Arran and took control of from Baylagan to Shamkir. He made himself virtually independent ruler of Azerbaijan by 1146. His marriage to the Mumine Khatun enabled him to intervene in the dynasty dispute between the Seljuk sultans of Iraq, which began after Masud's death in 1152.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the death of Shamsaddin Eldaniz in Nakhchivan in 1175, his son Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan succeeded him. Pahlavan transferred the capital from Nakhchivan to Hamadan in western Iran and made his younger brother, Qizil Arslan Uthman, the ruler of Azerbaijan. In 1174, Qizil Arslan captured Tabriz, which subsequently became his capital.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After Muhammad Jahan Pahlavan's death, his brother Qizil Arslan (1186–1191) ascended the throne. He continued his successful struggle against the Seljuq rulers. At the same time, the central power began to get weaker as mamluks, who had strengthened their dominance in their areas, did not want to obey the Sultan. Even Shirvanshah Akhsitan I who used to be Atabegs’ liegeman attempted to intervene in the interior affairs of the Eldiguzids and opposed Qizil Arslans aspiration to the throne. In the response to this, Qizil Arslan invaded Shirvan in 1191, reached to Derbent and subordinated the whole Shirvan to his authority. In 1191, Toghrul III, the last Seljuq ruler was overthrown by Qizil Arslan. Then, by Khalif’s leave, he proclaimed himself a Sultan, and then he was poisoned by Innach Khatun in September, 1191.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Eldiguzid atabeg Abu Bakr attempted to stem the Georgian advance, but suffered a defeat at the hands of David Soslan at the Battle of Shamkor and lost his capital to a Georgian protégé in 1195. Although Abu Bakr was able to resume his reign a year later, the Eldiguzids were only barely able to contain further Georgian forays. The State's defense capability was stricken. Khorezmshahs' and Georgians’ non-stopping forays aggravated the situation in the country and speeded up its decay.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In 1225, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu of the Khwarazmian dynasty ended Seljuk and atabeg rule and set himself up in the capital of Tabriz on the 25 of July in 1225.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Under the Seljuks, progress was made in poetry by the Persian poets Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209), Mahsati Ganjavi (1089-1159) and Khaqani (1120-1199), who lived in this region, and mark the zenith of medieval Persian literature. The region experienced a building boom, and the unique Seljuk architecture is exemplified by the 12th-century fortress walls, mosques, schools, mausoleums, and bridges of Baku, Ganja, and the Absheron Peninsula.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Ajami Abubakr oglu Nakhchivani is one of the architects who lived and created in Azerbaijan during the Atabegs of Azerbaijan. Ajami, also known as “Sheikh al-Muhandis”, was the architect of the several famous architectural monumentssuch as Yusif ibn Kuseyir Mausoleum, Momine Khatun Mausoleum and Juma Mosque and the founder of the Nakhichivan School of architecture. The mausoleums of Nakhichivan was nominated for the List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO in 1998.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Mongol invasions and conquests of Azerbaijan took place during the 13th and 14th centuries and involved large-scale raids. The Mongol invasion of the Middle East and the Caucasus impacted Azerbaijan and most of its neighbors. Invasions resulted in the incorporation of the territories of Azerbaijan into the newly established Hulagu state with the capital of Maragha in 1256 and lasted until 1357.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: During the first invasion of Azerbaijan by the Mongols in 1220-1223, cities such as Zanjan, Qazvin, Maragha, Ardebil, Bailagan, Barda, Ganja, which were the territory of the Atabegs of Azerbaijan, were destroyed.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Mongol forces approached Tabriz and got a ransom from the city in 1221. After destroying the city of Maragha, they attacked Diyarbakir and Ardabil and then again returned to Azerbaijan. Thus, the Mongols marched to the north, plundering Shirvanen route. In addition, Beylagan was plundered in the spring of 1221. This took them through the Caucasus into Alania and the South Russian steppes where the Mongols routed the Rus’-Kipchak armies at the Battle of the Kalka River (1223).


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The second invasion of the Mongolians to Azerbaijan is connected with the name of Chormagan Noyon- a military commander of Genghis Khan in the 1230s. This march was organized by the order of the great Khan Ögedei against Jalâl ad-Dîn Khwârazmshâh, who was ruling these areas after putting an end to Atabek’s power in Azerbaijanin 1225. Ögedei Khan sent 30,000 men under the command of Chormagan and the Khwarazmians were swept away by the new Mongol army. In 1231, the Mongols occupied most of Azerbaijan Four years later, they destroyed cities of Ganja, Shamkir, Tovuz, and Şabran on their way to Kievan Rus'. By 1236, Transcaucasia was in the hands of Ögedei Khan.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The third invasion of territories of Azerbaijan by Mongolians is associated with the name of Hulagu khan. After his brother Möngke's accession as Great Khan in 1251. The state established in the areas of modern Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and parts of modern Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, was an attempt to repair of the damage of the previous Mongol invasions.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Thus, the territories of Azerbaijan became a battleground between the Golden Horde and the Hulagu states.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the death of Abu Sa’id, the Chobanids dynasty ruled over Azerbaijan, Arrān, and parts of Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and west central Persia from 1335 to 1357, until the death of Malek Ashraf.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In 1364 Shaykh Uways Jalayir campaigned against the Shirvan Shah Kai-Ka’us, but a revolt begun by the governor of Baghdad, Khwaja Mirjan, forced him to return to reassert his authority. In 1366 Shaykh Uways Jalayir marched against the Kara Koyunlu, defeating their leader, Bairam Khwaja, at the battle of Mush. Later, he defeated the Shirvan Shah. Then, he was succeeded by his son Shaikh Hasan Jalayir.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Timur (Tamurlane) invaded Azerbaijan during the 1380s, temporarily incorporating it into his Eurasian domain. Shirvan, under Ibrahim I of Shirvan, was also a vassal state of Timur and assisted him in his war with the Mongol ruler Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde. Azerbaijan experienced social unrest and religious strife during this period due to sectarian conflict initiated by Hurufism, the Bektashi Order, and other movements.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After Timur's death in 1405, Shah Rukh (his fourth son) reigned until his death in 1447. Two rival Turkic rulers emerged west of his domain: the Qara Qoyunlu (based around Lake Van) and the Aq Qoyunlu, centred around Diyarbakır. The Kara Koyunlu were ascendant when their chief, Qara Yusuf, overcame Sultan Ahmed Mirza (the last of the Jalayirids), conquered lands south of Azerbaijan in 1410, and established his capital at Tabriz. Under Jahan Shah, they expanded into central Iran and as far east as Greater Khorasan. The Aq Qoyunlu became prominent under Uzun Hasan, overcoming Jahan Shah and the Qara Qoyunlu in 1468. Uzun Hasan ruled Iran, Azerbaijan, and Iraq until his death in 1478. The Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu continued the Timurid tradition of literary and artistic patronage, illustrated by Tabriz' Persian miniature paintings.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Safavid order was a Sufi religious order based in Iran and formed during the 1330s by Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252–1334), for whom it was named. The order converted to Twelver Shia Islam by the end of the 15th century. Some Safavid followers (notably the Qizilbash) believed in the mystical and esoteric nature of their rulers and their relationship to the house of Ali, and were willing to fight for them. The Safavid rulers claimed to be descended from Ali and his wife, Fatimah (the daughter of Muhammad), through the seventh Imam Musa al-Kadhim. Qizilbash numbers increased by the 16th century; their generals waged a successful war against the Aq Qoyunlu, and captured Tabriz.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Safavids, led by Ismail I, expanded their base in Ardabil; they conquered the Caucasus, parts of Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and western portions of South Asia. Ismail sacked Baku in 1501 and persecuted the Sunni Shirvanshahs. Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Dagestan were conquered by the Safavids between 1500 and 1502.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: During the reign of Ismail I and his son, Tahmasp I, Shia Islam was imposed upon the Sunni population of Iran and Azerbaijan. The conversion was especially harsh in Shirvan, where many Sunnis were massacred. Safavid Iran became a feudal theocracy during this period, and the shah was held to be the divinely-ordained head of the state and its religion. The Qizilbashi chiefs were designated "wakils" (provincial administrators), and the position of "ulama" was created. Wars with the rival Sunni Ottoman Empire continued during the reign of Tahmasp I, and the Safavid cities of Shamakha, Ganja, and Baku were occupied by the Ottomans during the 1580s.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Under Abbas the Great (1587–1630), the monarchy assumed a Persian Shiite identity. Abbas' reign was the Savafid zenith, and he repelled the Ottomans and re-captured the Caucasus (including Azerbaijan) in 1603. Aware of Qizilbash power, Abbas continued the policy of integrating the Caucasus into Persian society and deported hundreds of thousands of Circassians, Georgians and Armenians to Iran. They served in the army, the royal house and in civil administration, effectively killing the feudal Qizilbash; the converted Caucasians (known as "ghulams") were loyal to the shah, not their tribal chiefs. Their Armenian, Georgian, and Circassian descendants still live in Iran. The religious impact of Safavid Iran was significant in Azerbaijan due to its early-16th century conversion to Shia Islam, and the country has the world's second-largest population of Shiites (by percentage, after Iran).


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: As civil conflicts took hold in Iran, most of Azerbaijan was occupied by the Ottomans from 1722 to 1736. Between 1722 and 1735, during the reign of Peter the Great, the Caspian coast (including Derbent, Baku and Salyan) came under Imperial Russian rule as a result of the Russo-Persian War.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the collapse of Safavid Iran, Nader Shah (an Iranian military man of Turkoman origin) came to power. He seized Iran, banished the Afghans in 1729, and marched as east as Delhi in the hope of founding another Persian empire. Not fortifying his Persian base, however, exhausted Nader's army. He controlled Shah Tahmasp II and was regent of the infant Abbas III until 1736 when he had himself crowned as shah on the Mugan plain. Nader quickly established a new Iranian empire, amassing territory unknown since the Sasanians. He conquered the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, portions of Anatolia, large parts of Central Asia, and defeated the Mughals in the Battle of Karnal. Nader sacked Delhi, the Mughal capital, and brought much wealth back to Persia. Although his empire was short-lived, he is considered Asia's last great conqueror.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Nader Shah's Afsharid dynasty disintegrated after his assassination in 1747, and several Turkic khanates with varying degrees of autonomy emerged in the region. The eunuch Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar turned to the restoration of the outlying Safavid and Afsharid provinces. Returning to Tehran in the spring of 1795, he assembled a force of about 60,000 cavalry and infantry and set off for Azerbaijan in May. He intended to reconquer all territory lost to the Ottomans and Russians, including the region between the Aras and Kura formerly under Iranian Safavid and Afsharid control. The region contained a number of khanates, of which the most important was Karabakh (with its capital at Shusha); Ganja; Shirvan, across the Kura, with its capital at Shamakhi; and Christian Gurjistan (Georgia), on both banks of the Kura in the north-west with its capital at Tiflis. All were under nominal Persian suzerainty. The khanates warred constantly among themselves and against external threats. The most powerful northern khan was Fat'h Ali Khan of Quba (died 1783), who united most of the neighbouring khanates and mounted an expedition to seize Tabriz from the Zand dynasty. The Karabakh Khanate subdued neighbouring Nakhchivan and portions of Erivan.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Agha Mohammad Khan was victorious in the civil war which began with the death of the last Zand king. His reign is noted for the re-emergence of a united Iran. After the death of Nader Shah and the last of the Zands, most of Iran's Caucasian territories had broken away and formed khanates. Agha Mohammad Khan (like the Safavid kings and Nader Shah before him) viewed the region as no different from Iran, and his first objective after securing Iran was to reincorporate the Caucasus into it. Georgia was seen as an integral territory. For Agha Mohammad Khan, the subjugation and reintegration of Georgia into the Iranian empire was part of the process which brought Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tabriz under his rule. According to "The Cambridge History of Iran", Georgia's secession was inconceivable; it had to be resisted like an attempt at separating Fars or Gilan Province. Agha Mohammad Khan did whatever was necessary to subdue and reincorporate the recently-lost regions after Nader Shah's death and the fall of the Zands, including suppressing what was seen as treason by the "wali" of Georgia: King Heraclius II, who was appointed viceroy of Georgia by Nader Shah.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Agha Mohammad Khan demanded that Heraclius II renounce the Treaty of Georgievsk, which had been signed several years earlier, denouncing dependence on Persia and agreeing to Russian protection and assistance in its affairs. He demanded that Heraclius II again accept Persian suzerainty in return for peace and security. The Ottomans, Iran's neighbouring rival, recognized Iranian rights to Kartli and Kakheti for the first time in four centuries. Heraclius appealed to Empress Catherine II of Russia for at least 3,000 Russian troops; although he received no response (leaving Georgia to fend off Persia alone), he rejected Agha Mohammad Khan's ultimatum. Agha Mohammad Khan invaded the Caucasus, crossing the Aras and recapturing Shirvan, the Erivan, Nakhchivan, Derbent, Talysh, Shaki and Karabakh Khanates, and Igdir. The Battle of Krtsanisi resulted in the sack of Tiflis and the reintegration of Georgia into Iran. When he returned with 15,000 to 20,000 Georgian captives, Agha Mohammad was crowned shah in 1796 on the Mughan plain, as Nader Shah had been sixty years earlier.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: He was assassinated while preparing a second expedition against Georgia in 1797 in Shusha, and Heraclius II died early the following year. Iranian rule of Georgia was short-lived; in 1799, the Russians marched into Tbilisi. Russia had pursued a policy of expansion with its southern neighbours (the Ottoman Empire and Iran) since the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The two years following Russia's entrance into Tbilisi were a time of confusion, and Georgia was absorbed by Russia in 1801. Iran would not allow the cession of Transcaucasia and Dagestan, leading to the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 and the 1826-1828. Eastern Georgia, Dagestan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were ceded to Russia in the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay. Although the 1804–1813 Russo-Persian War disrupted trade and agriculture in the Caucasus, the 1826–1828 war was primarily fought in Iran. As a result of the wars, long-standing ties between Iran and the region were severed during the 19th century.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: According to Audrey L. Altstadt, Russia had been moving militarily towards the Caucasus since 1790. After its defeat by Russia, Qajar Iran ceded Dagestan, Georgia, and most of Azerbaijan to Russia. Local khanates were abolished (Baku and Ganja) or accepted Russian patronage.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The 1826–1828 Russo-Persian war resulted in another defeat for Iran. The Qajars ceded their remaining Caucasian territories: the remainder of Azerbaijan (the Nakhchivan and Lankaran Khanates) and Armenia's Erivan Khanate. Tariffs were lowered on Russian goods, and Russia could keep a navy in the Caspian Sea. The Treaty of Turkmenchay defined Russian-Iranian relations until 1917,


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: establishing the present borders of Azerbaijan and Iran as khan rule ended. In the newly-Russian-controlled territories, two provinces were established which became most of present-day Azerbaijan: Elisavetpol (Ganja) in the west and Shamakhi District in the east. Azerbaijanis are now divided between Azerbaijan and Iran. The Russian conquest sparked an exodus of Caucasian Muslims toward Iran, including many Turkic peoples from north of the Aras.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: 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 the same century, in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia, an Azerbaijani national identity emerged at the end of the 19th century.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: From the Russian conquests to the 1840s, Azerbaijan was governed by the Tsar's military. Russia reorganized the region's khanates into provinces, each governed by an army officer with a combination of local and Russian law. Due to the officers' unfamiliarity with local customs, however, Russian imperial law was increasingly applied; this led to local discontent. Russian administration was unequal to non-Christian Azerbaijanis; religious authorities were kept under control, disturbing non-Christians. Russia made concerted efforts to control the application of Islamic law, and two ecclesiastical boards were created to oversee Islamic activity; it appointed a mufti for the Sunni board and a shaykh al-Islām for its Shia counterpart. In 1857 Georgian and Armenian religious authorities were permitted to censor their respective communities, but Muslim religious works were approved by a censorship board in Odessa. Azerbaijani Turks were subject to Russian proselytizing.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: During the late 1830s, plans were made to replace the military rule with a civil administration. When the new legal system became effective in January 1841, Transcaucasia was divided into a Georgian-Imeretian province and a Caspian oblast centered in Shamakhi. New administrative borders ignored historic borders or ethnic composition. By the end of military rule in Azerbaijan, Russian imperial law applied to all criminal and most civil matters; the jurisdiction of traditional religious courts and Qadis was reduced to family law. After an 1859 earthquake, the capital of the eastern province was transferred from Shamakhi to Baku.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Baku was integrated into the Russian Empire in accordance with the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan, and Azerbaijan experienced significant economic development during the second half of the 19th century. The separate currencies of the former khanates were replaced by the ruble, and their tariffs were abolished; these reforms encouraged further investment in the region. Russia began investing in joint-stock companies, and by the 1840s steamships began sailing on the Caspian. Trade in the port of Baku increased from an average of 400,000 rubles during the 1830s to 500,000 in the 1840s and 700,000 to 900,000 rubles after the Crimean War.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Although oil had been discovered and exported from the region centuries before, the 1870s Azerbaijani oil rush led to prosperity and growth in the years leading to World War I and created huge disparities in wealth between the largely-European capitalists and the local Muslim workforce. During the 1870s, Baku experienced rapid industrial growth due to the oil boom. Azerbaijan's first oil refinery was established near Baku in 1859, and the region's first kerosene plant was built in 1863. Oil wells built during the 1870s sparked the boom, and oilfields were auctioned. This system secured investors’ holdings, encouraging further investment. Most of the investors were elite Russians and Armenians; of 51 oilfields sold at the first auction, five were bought by Azerbaijani Turks. Two of Baku's 54 notable 1888 oil-extraction firms were owned by Azerbaijanis, who participated in greater numbers in small-scale extraction and refining operations; 73 of 162 oil refineries were Azerbaijani-owned, but all except seven of them employed fewer than 15 people. In the decades after the oil rush (and its foreign investment), other industries grew in Azerbaijan. The banking system was one of the first to react to the oil industry. In 1880, an offshoot of the state bank opened in Baku. In its first year of operation, it issued 438,000 rubles; in 1899, all Baku banks had issued 11.4 million rubles in interest-bearing securities. Transportation and shipping also developed as a result of the expanding oil market, and the number of vessels on the Caspian quadrupled between 1887 and 1899. The Transcaucasus Railway, completed in 1884, connected Baku (on the Caspian Sea) to Batum on the Black Sea via Ganja (Elizavetpol) and Tiflis. In addition to transporting oil, the railroad develop new relationships between rural agricultural regions and industrial areas. The region was further interconnected with new communications infrastructure; telegraph lines connected Baku to Tiflis via Elizavetpol in the 1860s, and a telephone system operated in Baku during the 1880s.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The oil rush was spurred by Armenian magnate Ivan Mirzoev and his drilling practices. Oilfields were auctioned primarily to Russians, Armenians, and Europeans, most notably Robert Nobel of Branobel. By 1900, Baku's population increased from 10,000 to about 250,000 as a result of worker migration from the Russian Empire, Iran, and elsewhere. The growth of Baku fostered the emergence of an Azeri nationalist intelligentsia influenced by European and Ottoman ideas. Influential thinkers such as Hasan bey Zardabi, Mirza Fatali Akhundov and (later) Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Nariman Narimanov encouraged nationalist discourse, railed against poverty, ignorance, and extremism, and sought reforms in education and the emancipation of dispossessed classes (including women). The financial support of philanthropic millionaires such as Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev bolstered the rise of an Azeri middle class.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: An economic and political crisis erupted in Baku after the Russo-Japanese War, beginning with a general strike of oil workers in 1904. The following year, class and ethnic tensions resulted in Muslim-Armenian massacres during the 1905 Russian Revolution.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The situation improved between 1906 and 1914 when a limited parliamentary system was introduced in Russia and Muslim MPs from Azerbaijan promoted Azeri interests. The pan-Turkist and pan-Islamist Musavat Party, inspired by Mammed Amin Rasulzade's left-wing modernist ideology, was formed in 1911. Clandestine at first, the party expanded rapidly in 1917 after Russia's October Revolution. Key components of Musavat ideology were secularism, nationalism and federalism, or autonomy within a broader political structure. The party's right and left wings differed on certain issues, however, most notably land distribution.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: When Russia became involved in World War I, social and economic tensions spiked. Its 1917 revolution granted self-rule to Azerbaijan, but also renewed ethnic conflicts between Azeris and Armenians.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: When the Russian Empire collapsed in 1917, the Transcaucasian Federation was founded by Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian intelligentsia. The federation was short-lived, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed on 28 May 1918 by the Musavat. The name "Azerbaijan", adopted by the party for political reasons, had been used to identify the adjacent region of northwestern Iran.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: It was the Islamic world's first democratic republic. In Baku, however, a coalition of Bolsheviks, Dashnaks and Mensheviks fought against a Turkish Islamic army led by Nuri Pasha. The coalition, known as the Baku Commune, inspired (or tacitly condoned) the massacre of local Muslims by Dashnak-Armenian forces. It collapsed, and was replaced by the British-controlled Centrocaspian Dictatorship in July 1918. After battles in August and September, the joint forces of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Ottoman Empire (led by Nuri Pasha) entered Baku and declared it the Azerbaijani capital on 15 September 1918.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan was proclaimed a secular republic, and its first parliament met on 5 December 1918. Although the British administration initially did not recognize the republic, it cooperated with it. The situation in Azerbaijan had more or less stabilized by mid-1919, and British forces left in August of that year. However, advancing Bolshevik forces, victorious in the Russian Civil War, began to threaten the republic (involved in a conflict with Armenia over Karabakh) by early 1920.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan was recognised by the Allies as an independent nation in January 1920 at the Paris Peace Conference. The republic was governed by five cabinets, formed by a coalition of the Musavat, the Socialist Bloc, the Independents, the Liberals, the Hummet and the Ittihad parties. The premier of the first three cabinets was Fatali Khan Khoyski, and Nasib Yusifbeyli was premier of the last two. Parliamentary president Alimardan Topchubashov, the recognized head of state, represented Azerbaijan at the peace conference.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Aided by dissidents in government, the Red Army invaded Azerbaijan on 28 April 1920. Most of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt which had broken out in Karabakh. The Azerbaijanis did not surrender their brief independence easily; as many as 20,000 died resisting what was essentially a Russian reconquest. The formation of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was facilitated by popular support of Bolshevik ideology, particularly by workers in Baku. On the day of the invasion, a Soviet government was formed under Nariman Narimanov. The same fate befell Armenia by the end of 1920, and Georgia in March 1921.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: After the government surrendered to Bolshevik forces, Azerbaijan was proclaimed a Soviet socialist republic on 28 April 1920. The Congress of the Peoples of the East was held in Baku in September of that year. Nominally an independent state, the Azerbaijan SSR was dependent on (and controlled by) the government in Moscow. It was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, with Armenia and Georgia, in March 1922. In accordance with a December 1922 agreement, the TSFSR became one of the Soviet Union's four original republics. The TSFSR was dissolved in 1936, and its three regions became republics of the USSR. In the early Soviet period, the Azerbaijani national identity was finally forged.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Like other Union Republics, Azerbaijan was affected by Stalin's purges during the 1930s. Thousands of people were killed during the period, including Huseyn Javid, Mikail Mushfig, Ruhulla Akhundov, and Ayna Sultanova. The Azerbaijan SSR supplied much of the Soviet Union's gas and oil during World War II, and was a strategically important region. Although the June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union reached the Greater Caucasus in July 1942, the Germans did not invade Azerbaijan. The 1950s were a period of rapid urbanization and industrialization, and a "sblizheniye" (rapprochement) policy began to merge the peoples of the Soviet Union into a monolithic nation.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan's oil industry lost its relative importance to the Soviet economy during the 1960s because of a shift in oil production to other regions of the Soviet Union and the depletion of known terrestrial oil resources; offshore production was not considered cost-effective. Azerbaijan had the second-lowest rate of growth in productivity and economic output of the Soviet republics, ahead of Tajikistan. Although ethnic tensions (particularly between Armenians and Azerbaijanis) began to grow, violence was suppressed.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In an attempt to end the structural crisis, the government in Moscow appointed Heydar Aliyev as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in 1969. Aliyev temporarily improved economic conditions and promoted alternative industries, such as cotton, to supplement the declining oil industry. He consolidated the republic's ruling elite (which now consisted almost entirely of ethnic Azerbaijanis), reversing the previous rapprochement. Aliyev was appointed a member of the Communist Party's Politburo in Moscow, the highest position attained by an Azeri in the Soviet Union, in 1982. In 1987, when Mikhail Gorbachev's "perestroika" began, he retired.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Gorbachev era was marked by increasing unrest in the Caucasus, initially over Nagorno-Karabakh. Ethnic conflict, centering on Armenian demands for the unification of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with Armenia by March 1988, began in February of that year amid pogroms against the Armenian populations of Baku and Sumgait. Although Moscow imposed military rule several times, unrest continued to spread.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The ethnic strife revealed the Communist Party's shortcomings as a champion of national interests, and independent publications and political organizations emerged in the spirit of "glasnost". By fall 1989, the Popular Front of Azerbaijan (PFA) seemed poised to seize power from the Communist Party before the party split into conservative-Islamic and moderate wings. The split was followed by an outbreak of anti-Armenian violence in Baku and intervention by Soviet troops.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Unrest culminated in violent confrontation when Soviet troops killed 132 nationalist demonstrators in Baku on 20 January 1990. Azerbaijan declared independence from the USSR on 30 August 1991 and became part of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The First Nagorno-Karabakh War began by the end of the year, ending in a tense cease-fire which has persisted into the 21st century. The refusal by both sides to negotiate resulted in a stalemate, as Armenian troops retained their positions in Karabakh and corridors to Armenia which were seized from Azerbaijan.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan SSR president Ayaz Mutallibov and Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia were the only Soviet leaders to support the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, and Mütallibov proposed constitutional changes to permit direct nationwide presidential elections.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The 1991 Azerbaijani presidential election, in which Mutalibov was the only candidate, was held on 8 September 1991. Although the election was neither free nor fair by international standards, Mutalibov became the country's formal president. The proposed 18 October 1991 declaration of independence by Azerbaijan's Supreme Soviet was followed by the dissolution of its Communist Party, although its former members (including Mutallibov) retained their posts. In a nationwide December 1991 referendum, Azerbaijani voters approved the Supreme Soviet's declaration of independence. The country was first recognized by Turkey, Israel, Romania and Pakistan, and the United States followed suit on 25 December.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continued, despite efforts to negotiate a settlement. Early in 1992, Karabakh's Armenian leadership proclaimed an independent republic. Armenia gained the upper hand in what was now a full-scale war, with covert assistance from the Russian Army. Atrocities were committed by both sides; the 25 February 1992 Khojaly massacre of Azerbaijani civilians was criticized for the government's inaction, and Azerbaijani troops killed and captured Armenian civilians in the Maraga massacre. Mütallibov, pressured by the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, submitted his resignation to the National Council on 6 March. His failure to build an adequate army he could control caused the downfall of his government. Shusha, the last Azerbaijani-inhabited town in Nagorno-Karabakh, came under Armenian control on 6 May. Eight days later, the Supreme Council investigated the Khojaly massacre, absolved Mutallibov of responsibility, overturned his resignation and restored him as president. The following day (15 May), armed Azerbaijan Popular Front forces seized the National Council and the state-owned radio and television stations and deposed Mutallibov, who fled to Moscow. The National Council was dissolved, and the National Assembly (composed of Azerbaijan Popular Front members and former communists) was formed. Two days later (as Armenian forces took Lachin), Isa Gambar was elected National Assembly chair and assumed the duties of the president until national elections scheduled for 17 June 1992.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The former communists failed to present a viable candidate for the 1992 Azerbaijani presidential election and PFA leader, former dissident and political prisoner Abulfaz Elchibey was elected president with over 60 percent of the vote. Elchibey's program included opposition to Azerbaijan's membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States, closer relations with Turkey, and a desire for improved links with the Iranian Azerbaijanis.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Heydar Aliyev, who had been prevented from running for president by an age limit of 65, was doing well in Nakhchivan but had to contend with an Armenian blockade of the exclave. Azerbaijan halted rail traffic into and out of Armenia, cutting most of its land links with the outside world. The negative economic effects of the Nagorno-Karabakh war on both countries illustrated Transcaucasian interdependence.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Within a year of his election, Elchibey faced the same situation which had led to Mutallibov's downfall. The fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh turned in favour of Armenia, which seized about one-fifth of Azerbaijan's territory and created over one million internally displaced persons. A military rebellion led by Surat Huseynov broke out in early June 1993 in Ganja. The PFA leadership found itself without political support as a result of the war's setbacks, a deteriorating economy, and opposition from groups led by Aliyev. In Baku, he seized power and quickly consolidated his position, and an August vote-of-confidence referendum removed Elchibey from the presidency.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Aliyev had some of his opposition, including Surat Huseynov, arrested by March 1994. In 1995, the military police were accused of plotting a coup and disbanded; the coup plotters were linked to right-wing Turkish nationalists. The following year, Former National Assembly speaker Rəsul Quliyev went into exile, and Aliyev's position as absolute ruler was unquestionable by the end of 1996.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: As a result of limited reforms and the signing of the October 1994 contract for the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli offshore oilfield complex, which led to increased oil exports to Western markets, the economy began improving. However, extreme levels of Corruption and nepotism in Aliyev's government prevented Azerbaijan from more sustained development, however, especially in non-oil sectors.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In October 1998, Aliyev was re-elected to a second term. Although his weakened opposition accused him of voter fraud, there was no widespread international condemnation of the election. Aliyev's second term was characterized by limited reforms, increasing oil production and the dominance of BP as Azerbaijan's main foreign oil company. The Shah Deniz gas field is part of the European Commission's Southern Gas Corridor, and a gas export agreement was signed with Turkey. Work on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the South Caucasus gas pipeline began in 2003; the oil pipeline was completed in 2005, and the gas pipeline in 2006. Azerbaijan was a party to the aborted Nabucco pipeline.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Aliyev's health began to fail. He collapsed during a televised April 2003 speech, and made his son Ilham the unopposed presidential candidate in October. After several months in the Cleveland Clinic with heart and kidney problems, he died on 12 December 2003.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In another controversial election, Heydar's son Ilham Aliyev was elected president that year. The election, marred by violence, was criticised by foreign observers. Opposition to the Aliyev administration is widespread, with opponents advocating a more democratic government. Aliyev was re-elected in 2008 with 87 percent of the vote, however, as opposition parties boycotted the election. After a 2009 constitutional referendum, presidential term limits were abolished and freedom of the press was restricted.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: The 2010 election produced a National Assembly loyal to Aliyev; for the first time in Azerbaijani history, no candidate from the main opposition Azerbaijani Popular Front or Musavat parties was elected.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: "The Economist" called Azerbaijan's regime authoritarian, ranking it 135th out of 167 countries in its 2010 Democracy Index.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: Demonstrations were held against Aliyev's rule in 2011, calling for democratic reforms and a new government. Aliyev responded with a security crackdown, using force to crush protests in Baku and refusing to make concessions. Over 400 people were arrested during the protests, which began in March. Opposition leaders, including Musavat's Isa Gambar, vowed to continue demonstrating despite police suppression.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: On 24 October 2011, Azerbaijan was elected a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. From 1 to 5 April 2016, clashes resumed between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: In April 2018, President Ilham Aliyev secured his fourth consecutive term in the election that was boycotted by the main opposition parties as fraudulent.


title: History of Azerbaijan

text: On 27 September 2020, new clashes in the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resumed along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact. Both the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia reported military and civilian casualties. The Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement and the end of the six-week war between Azerbaijan and Armenia was widely celebrated in Azerbaijan, as they made significant territorial gains.


title: Amy Ray

text: Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American alto singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released six albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemon Records.


title: Amy Ray

text: Born in Decatur, Georgia, Amy Ray met Emily Saliers when they both attended the same elementary school. They began performing together and recorded a demo in 1981. After graduation, Ray and Saliers went to different colleges with Ray attending Vanderbilt University. By 1985, they had both transferred to Emory University in Atlanta and formed the Indigo Girls. In 1986, Ray graduated from Emory with majors in English and Religion.


title: Amy Ray

text: In March 2001, Ray released her first solo album, "Stag", a southern and punk rock album. The Butchies, a punk band whose members include Kaia Wilson, Melissa York, and Alison Martlew, provided support for five songs, and Joan Jett played on "Hey Castrator". In April 2005, Ray released the softer edged "Prom", and in December 2006, she released "Live from Knoxville". Her fourth solo album, the melodic "Didn't It Feel Kinder," was released in August 2008. "Lung of Love," which has more of an indie-rock sound, was released in 2012.


title: Amy Ray

text: Her backup band for her "Stag" tour was The Butchies. In 2004, when she embarked on her "Prom" tour, she brought Les Nuby (guitar), Will Lochamy (drums), and Jody Bleyle (bass). Tara Jane O'Neil replaced Bleyle when she began maternity leave in October. Ray's backup band for her 2012 "Lung of Love" tour was The Butchies. Jenn Stone, former keyboard player for Kesha, also performed on the tour.


title: Amy Ray

text: In addition to the Indigo Girls and her work as a solo artist, Ray also runs an independent record label, Daemon Records, which she founded in 1990 and which is based in Decatur, Georgia. Some performers signed to Daemon include Girlyman, Magnapop, Nineteen Forty-Five, Michelle Malone, Three Finger Cowboy, Danielle Howle and the Tantrums, Gerard McHugh, New Mongrels, Grady Cousins, The Oblivious, Snow Machine, Utah Phillips and Rose Polenzani.


title: Amy Ray

text: She often collaborates with The Butchies, a punk band featuring drummer Melissa York and vocalist/guitarist Kaia Wilson. She has contributed the live track "Lucy Stoners" on "Calling All Kings & Queens" (2001) and the Mr. Lady Records sampler album as well as a live recording of "On Your Honor" on a compilation for Home Alive.


title: Amy Ray

text: Ray is also an activist involved in multiple political and social causes, including gay rights, low-power broadcasting, women's rights, indigenous struggles, gun control, environmental protection and the anti-death penalty movement among others. She has made several trips to Chiapas, Mexico to support the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.


title: Amy Ray

text: In 1993, she and Emily Saliers co-founded Honor the Earth with Winona LaDuke. Honor the Earth's mission is "to create awareness and support for Native [American] environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native [American] communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not heard."


title: Amy Ray

text: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) appears on her 2014 album "Goodnight Tender", and she and Vernon continue to maintain a friendship.


title: Amy Ray

text: Ray was also a judge for the 3rd and 11th Annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.


title: Amy Ray

text: Ray lives in the foothills of North Georgia, where she and her partner, Carrie Schrader, have a daughter, Ozilline Graydon. In March 2021, Ray spoke on the "LGBTQ&A" podcast about having gender dysphoria and being genderqueer.


title: Northwest Airlines Flight 188

text: Northwest Airlines Flight 188 was a regularly scheduled flight from San Diego, California, to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 21, 2009, which landed over one hour late in Minneapolis/St Paul after overshooting its destination by more than because of pilot error. As a result of the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revoked the pilot certificates of the involved pilots and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued recommendations for changes to air traffic control procedures and the rules for cockpit crew. The incident also caused American lawmakers to move to prevent pilots on U.S. airliners from using personal electronic devices while taxiing or flying. In 2013, changes to flight deck automation were suggested, and prototype designs that could mitigate errors leading to similar incidents were described.


title: Northwest Airlines Flight 188

text: The Airbus A320 took off from San Diego International Airport at 5:01 p.m. CDT (3:01 pm in San Diego). It was scheduled to land at 8:01 p.m. CDT. Just under two hours after takeoff, at 6:56 p.m. CDT, Air Traffic Control lost radio contact with the aircraft while it was over Denver.


title: Northwest Airlines Flight 188

text: Per federal regulations, the Denver ARTCC (where contact was lost) instructed the pilots to contact the Minneapolis ARTCC to obtain an amended clearance to land in Minneapolis. However, the pilots did not do so. Both the Denver and Minneapolis ARTCC made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the pilots. At the request of the Minneapolis ARTCC, Northwest's dispatchers made at least eight attempts to reach the pilots and urge them to reestablish radio contact, without success. When other pilots in the area got word of the situation, they tried to help the controllers and attempted to raise the pilots as well. Northwest also sent them a radio text message, which went unanswered. Authorities were concerned enough that NORAD readied fighter jets to check on the welfare of the plane. Officials at the White House Situation Room were alerted as well.