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Forced Occupation of parts of Azerbaijan by Russians
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On April 28, 1920 AD, the Russian-occupied northern part of the Iranian land of Azerbaijan, including Arran, which had broken free of Moscow’s control on the collapse of Czarist rule in 1917, was seized by the communist army of the Soviet Union after heavy fighting and massacre of tens of thousands of Azeri Muslims. This Caucasus land, now known as the Republic of Azerbaijan, should have been returned to Iran, as per the terms of the Treaties of Gulestan (1813) and Turkmanchai (1828).
The name "Azar" is Persian for fire, while ‘Baijan’ which is actually an Arabic corruption of the Persian word "Payegaan" means Guardian/Land. Thus, Azerbaijan means “Land of Fire”, probably because of the oil wells around what is now Baku that at times spewed fire, as recorded by ancient texts, including the travels of Marco Polo.
From pre-historic times, Azerbaijan has been the home of different Iranic tribes, such as the Scythians (Sakas). This land has been an integral part of Iran before the emergence of the Median Empire followed by the Achaemenid, Parthians, and Sassanid Dynasties, after which it became part of the Islamic world.
With the weakening of the Abbasid caliphate, the Arab governors of this region took the ancient title Shirvanshah, and became thoroughly Persianized in language and culture, promoting such poets, as the famous Nizami Ganjavi. Although nomadic Turkic tribes fleeing the Mongol attack on Central Asia had settled in the pasturelands, it was only with the influx of large numbers of Turkic Shi’ite Muslims from Anatolia as supporters of the Safavid Dynasty that the old Iranian Azari dialect of the region, began to be replaced with what is now called Azeri Turkic.
After the Safavids, the Afsharid, Zandi and the Qajarid dynasties of Iran held sway over this area, which was seized by the Russians in early 19th century. After the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I, northern Azerbaijan, together with Armenia and Georgia became part of the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic.
When the republic dissolved in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. It was obvious the Soviet Union would attack this land, since Vladimir Lenin said the invasion was justified as Moscow could not survive without Baku's oil. While the Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt in Qarabagh, the Soviets invaded and occupied the land after massacring some 20,000 Azeri Muslims.
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