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{{Short description|Region located in modern-day Azerbaijan, historically in Iran}}
'''Arran''' ''(ar-Ran)'' is a historic geographic and sometimes political term used in the ] to signify the territory which lays within the triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of ] and ] rivers,<ref></ref> including the highland and lowland ], ] and parts of the ]. In ], the term Arran is sometimes used to designate today's Azerbaijan Republic, to differentiate it from the West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan provinces in Northern Iran.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
{{About|the geographic region|the political entity|Caucasian Albania|the province|Caucasian Albania (Sasanian province)}}
] and ] map]]
].]]


'''Arran''' (] form; ]: اران or اردان), also known as '''Aran''' or '''Ardan''', was a geographical name used in ] and ] times to signify a historically-]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title = AZERBAIJAN | last = EI. | authorlink = | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-index | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 2-3 | pages = 205–257 | location = | publisher = | orig-year = 1987 | year = 2011 | isbn = | quote = The name Azerbaijan was also adopted for Arrān, historically an Iranian region, by anti-Russian separatist forces of the area when, on 26 May 1918, they declared its independence and called it the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. }}</ref> ] which lay within the triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of the ] and ] rivers,<ref name="Bosworth">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bosworth|first=C. E | title= ARRĀN | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica | access-date=2012-07-15|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arran-a-region}}</ref> including the highland and lowland ],<ref name="Bosworth"/> ] and parts of the ]. In pre-Islamic times, it corresponded roughly to the territory of the modern-day ].<ref name="Bosworth"/> The term is the ]<ref name="Journal">''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland''. The Society, published 1902, page 64. Text states: ''"In Mustawfi's lists, however, the Arabic article has everywhere disappeared and we have Ray, Mawsil, etc.; while names such as Ar-Ran and Ar-Ras (spelt Al-Ran, Al-Ras in the Arabic writing), which in the older geographers had thus the false appearance of Arab names, in the pages of Mustawfi appear in plain Persian as Arran and Aras."''</ref><ref>Prasad, Ganga. ''The Fountain Head of Religion''. Published by the Book Tree in 2000, page 46</ref> equivalent to the ] ''Albania''. It was known as ''Aghvania'', ''Alvan-k''<ref name="Minorsky">V. Minorsky. Caucasica IV. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 15, No. 3. (1953), p. 504</ref> in ], and ''Al-ran''<ref name="Minorsky"/><ref name="Bosworth"/> (Arabized form of ''Arran''<ref name="Journal"/>) in ].
Historically, the term Arran ''(or Aran)'' was a geographical name used in early ] times to define some parts of what is now the republic of ] as well as parts of republic of ]. In later times, the term "Azerbaijan" supplanted "Arran".


Today, the term Aran is mainly used in Azerbaijan to indicate territories consisting of Mil and Mughan plains (mostly, ], ], ], ], ] provinces of the Republic of Azerbaijan). It has also been used by Iranian historian ] to refer to the country of Azerbaijan, freeing the name "Azerbaijan" to refer to a region within Iran.<ref>, Interview with Reza, Iran Chamber Society, retrieved 2010-02-28.</ref> The bulk of the territory of the republic of Azerbaijan was the historic ], as well as ]/Qubbah).
==Origins of the name==
According to some scholars, {{who}} the name is considerably ancient, noting that the ] name for Caucasian Albania was ''Ardan'', and that still older Iranian sources even refer to it as "Aran".


==Name==
According to some legends, 'Arran' or 'Arhan'<ref>http://rbedrosian.com/kg7.htm</ref> was the name of the legendary founder of ], who in some versions was son of ]'s son Yafet (]) and also, possibly the eponym of the ancient Caucasian Albanians (''Aghvan''), and/or the Iranic tribe known as ]s (Alani). The nearby Araks (Aras) river was known to ] ]s as ], and has a source not far from Mt. ]. Moreover, this region, long considered the earliest seat of the ] faith, is traditionally (eg., in the ''Bundahish'' 29:12) considered a likely candidate to be the place referred to in the ] as the "First land" ('']''). Thus, 'Arran' is quite possibly the "missing link" between the names ''Ararat'' and ] (and indeed, ]). The son of ] who first settled the Aras valley may have been ], if anecdotal tales related in the ] have any value. (10:35)
{{see also|List of geographic names of Iranian origin}}
]
The region is known as ''Ardhan'' in ], ''Al-Ran'' in ],<ref name="Minorsky" /><ref name="Bosworth" /> ''Aghvank'' or ''Alvank'' in ], ''Rani'' ({{lang-ka|რანი}}) in ] and '']'' in ].<ref name="Minorsky" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Genghis Khan: the history of the world conqueror |last=Juvaynī |first=ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malik |year=1997 |publisher=Manchester University Press ND |isbn=0-7190-5145-2 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWW7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA148 |quote=''The province of Arran, classical Albania, lay within the great triangle of land formed by the junction of the Kur and the Aras, of which the greater portion now forms part of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan, the remainder belonging to the Republic of Armenia''}}</ref>


According to the ], ''Arran'' or ''Arhan''<ref></ref> was the name of the legendary founder of ], who in some versions was the son of ]'s son Yafet (]) and also, possibly the eponym of the ancient Caucasian Albanians (''Aghvan''),<ref></ref> and/or the Iranian tribe known as ] (Alani). The nearby ] was known to ] ]s as the ''Araxes'', and has a source near ]. ], in his discussion of the geography of the ]'s '']'' I, observes that the 12th century '']'' (29:12) identified the "]" on the northern border of Azerbaijan, and did so "probably in order that it should be as near as possible to the seat of the Zoroastrian religion yet without losing its supernatural character by the counter-evidence of facts."<ref>Darmesteter, James (trans., ed.). "Vendidad." ''Zend Avesta I'' (SBE 4). Oxford University Press, 1880. p. 3, p. 5 n.2,3.</ref> Darmesteter further associated the Vanguhi Daitya river with the Araxes, and compared the name "Airyana Vaego" with that of Arran.<ref></ref>
⚫ ==Boundaries==
⚫ {{Main|History of the name Azerbaijan}}
]{{speedy-image-c|]}}]]


According to English historian and ] ]:
Historically, the name Arran has been used to refer to the territory of present-day Azerbaijan Republic. However, Azerbaijan was used generally, but not exclusively, to signify ]. At the same time, the term Arran was often used in a narrower sense, implying not the whole territory of today's Azerbaijan Republic, but only the right bank of the Kura river, centered around the Karabakh area. In this interpretation, eastern Caucasus was generally divided into three historical areas: Arran, ] and ].


{{cquote|The Georgians knew them as Rani, a form taken over in an Arabized form for the early Islamic geographical term al-Rān (pronounced ar-Rān)''.}}
⚫ In a medieval chronicle “Ajayib-ad-Dunia”, written in ] by an unknown author, Arran is said to have approximately 30 '']'' (200 km) width, and 40 ''farsakhs'' (270 km) length. All the right bank of the Kura until it joined with the Araks was attributed to Arran (the left bank of the Kura was known as ]). The boundaries of Arran are not clearly defined, and include parts of the modern republic of ] (i.e. ]) as well as historic Armenia, raising controversy between Armenian and Azerbaijani viewpoints.
Later Greek writers also call the country Ariania instead of Albania, and the people Arianoi instead of Albanoi.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-1/*-SIM_0855|title="Arrān", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition|author=]}}</ref> In some Classical authors one finds the form Arian/Aryan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/*-SIM_0736|title="Arrān", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|author=]|publisher=E. J. BRILL|quote=The origin of the name Arrān, Georgian Rani, Greek ’Αλβανοὶ, and Armenian Alwankʿ (people), is unknown. (In some Classical authors one finds the form Arian/Aryan, and in Arabic sources one can find al-Ran).}}</ref>


⚫ ==Boundaries==
⚫ Medieval ] geographers gave descriptions of Arran in general, and of its towns (], ], ] etc.) in particular, describing their ] ] and their importance for ] across the ].
⚫ {{Main article|History of the name Azerbaijan}}
In pre-Islamic times, Caucasian Albania/Arran was a wider concept than that of post-Islamic Arran. Ancient Arran covered all of eastern ], which included most of the territory of the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic and part of the territory of ]. However, in post-Islamic times the geographic notion of Arran shrank to the territory between the rivers of Kura and Araks.<ref name="Bosworth"/>


⚫ A medieval chronicle, the "''Ajayib-ad-Dunya''", written in the 13th century by an unknown author, says Arran was 30 ]s (200 km) in width, and 40 ''farsakhs'' (270 km) in length. The entire right bank of the ] until it joined with the Aras was attributed to Arran (the left bank of the Kura was known as ]). The boundaries of Arran have shifted throughout history, sometimes encompassing the entire territory of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, and at other times only parts of the ]. Sometimes Arran was part of Armenia.<ref>Abi Ali Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Rustah, al-A'laq Al-Nafisah, Tab'ah 1,Bayrut : Dar al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyah, 1998, pg 96-98.</ref>
According to some Iranian sources, the term Arran was replaced with Azerbaijan on May 22, 1918 in Tbilisi, by the Turkic Democratic Musavat Party, with aims of claiming Iranian Azarbaijan. They also claim that scholars from both Russia and Iran protested the name, and that the ]s continued to use the name Azerbaijan in their own hopes of adding north western Iran to the Soviet Union.<ref>'' By: Dr. Kaveh Farrokh</ref><ref> Iran Chamber Society</ref> However, the term Azerbaijan included lands north of Araxes river, such as Arran, since the times of ancient Atropatena, and have become prevalent again after Arab and Turkic conquest of the area from 7th century AD.


⚫ Medieval ] geographers gave descriptions of Arran in general, and of its towns, including ], ], and ].
Today, the term Arran is mainly used in the Azerbaijan Republic to indicate territories consisting of Mil and Mughan plains (mostly, ], ], ], ] provinces of the Azerbaijan Republic).


== History of Arran == ==History==
:''History of Arran is summarized in ] section, where you can refer for detailed description.'' :''History of Arran is summarized in ] section, where you can refer for detailed description.''


===Pre-Islamic===
In ancient times, Arran is not mentioned in historical sources. The area that is referred to as Arran (a large portion of modern Republic of Azerbaijan on the right bank of Kura) was populated mainly by Caucasian speaking tribes.
{{main article|Caucasian Albania|Albania (satrapy)}}
{{empty section|date=January 2016}}


===Islamic===
⚫ The first mention of Arran as a geographical entity can be found in ] sources of the ]. Following the Arab invasion of present-day Azerbaijan in the 8th century, most of the former territory of ] was included under the name of Arran. This region was at times part of the ] province of ] based on ] and historical evidence. Albanian princes of Parthian descent such as ], who called themselves Arran-shah's, fought against the Arab ] from the late ] to middle ].
]]]
⚫ Following the ], the Arabs invaded the Caucasus in the 8th century and most of the former territory of ] was included under the name of Arran. This region was at times part of the ] based on ] and historical evidence. Dynasties of ]n or ] descent, such as the ] had come to rule the territory during ]. Its kings were given the title ''Arranshah'', and after the Arab invasions, fought against the caliphate from the late 7th to middle 8th centuries.


Early ] ruling dynasties of the time included ], ], ], ], ], and the ] and ] emirates. The principal cities of Arran in early medieval times were ] (Partav) and ]. Bardha'a reached prominence in the 10th century and was used to house a ]. Bardha'a was sacked by the ] and ] several times in the 10th century as a result of the ]. Bardha'a never recovered after these raids and was replaced as capital by ], which in turn was sacked by the Mongols in 1221. After this Ganja rose to prominence and became the central city of the region. The capital of the ] dynasty, Ganja was considered the "mother city of Arran" during their reign.
Following the collapse of the Caliphate, parts of Arran (this refers to western part of Arran, now within Armenian republic proper) were ruled by various Armenian royal families, as ], and other minor lords. These minor lords ruled the Kingdom of ] in the northernmost part of Arran.


The territory of Arran became a part of the ], followed by the ] state. It was taken briefly by the ] dynasty and then overran by ] in the 13th century. Later, it became a part of ], ], ], and Iranian ], ], and ] states which means at least from 1500 until 1828, when Iran lost a major battle to the expanding Russian Empire and as a result had to sign the ] ({{langx|ru|Туркманчайский договор}}, {{langx|fa|عهدنامه ترکمنچای}}) in which it had to concede all the ] territories to Russia.
Early ] ruling dynasties of the time included ], ], ] and ]s, ]s, ] and ] emirates. The principle city of Arran in early medieval times was ] (Partav). It reached a prominence in ], and used to house a ] for Arabs, Shaddadids and Salarid. Barda was sacked by the ]/] several times in 10th century.


==People==
From ], the importance of Arran as a region declined and consequently the use of the word Arran as well. The territory of Arran became a part of the ] empire, followed by ] Azerbaijan Atabeg state, ] in the ]. Later it became a part of ], ] and ] states. Aran and Azerbaijan were incorporated into the ] state by ]. Arran was a terriroty where independent ] of ], ] and ] developed in the ].
{{see also|Origin of the Azerbaijanis}}
The population of Arran consisted of a great variety of peoples.<ref name="Hewsen">]. ''Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians'', in: Samuelian, Thomas J. (Hg.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity, Chico: 1982, 27-40.</ref> Greek, Roman and Armenian authors provide the names of some peoples who inhabited the lands between the Kur and Araxes rivers:

* ] and Mycians — apparently migrants from the south,
* ], Gargarians and Gardmans
* Sakasenians — of ] origin,
* Gelians, Sodians, ], Balasanians — possibly ],
* Parsians and Parrasians — were probably ]

In the late 4th century, when the region passed to Caucasian Albania, its population consisted of Armenians and Armenicized aborigines, though many of the latter were still cited as distinct ethnic entities.<ref name="Hewsen"/>

In pre-Islamic times the population of Arran and most of Caucasian Albania had mostly been Christian who belonged to the ].<ref name="Bosworth"/> Under Arabic rule (7th to 9th centuries) a part of the population was Islamicized and adopted ]. Muslim chronicles of the 10th century reported that some of the population of Arran spoke al-rānīya, as well as ] and ]s.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929124502/http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/S.Kavkaz/Karaulov/frametext1.htm |date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="link1"> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122446/http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/S.Kavkaz/Karaulov/text7.htm |date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="link2"> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121058/http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/S.Kavkaz/Karaulov/text9.htm |date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref> Because there is no written evidence, some scholars have presumed al-rānīya to be an ] dialect<ref>Encyclopedia Iranica, "Azerbaijan: Islamic history to 1941." C. E. Bosworth:"North of the Aras, the distinct, presumably Iranian, speech of Arrān long survived, called by Ebn Hawqal al-rānīya"</ref> while others have presumed it to be a remnant of a Caucasian Albanian language. The area in which there was Ganja, during the 9th to 12th century named Arran; its urban population spoke mainly in Persian.<ref> М., «Восточная литература», 2002. {{ISBN|5-02-017711-3}} (History of the East. In 6 volumes. Volume 2. Moscow, publishing house of the Russian Academy of sciences «East literature»): The multi-ethnic population of Albania's left-bank (of the Kura) at this time is increasingly moving toward the Persian language. Mainly this applies to cities of Aran and ], as begin from 9-10 centuries named two main areas in the territory of Azerbaijan. With regard to the rural population, it would seem, mostly retained for a long time, their old languages, related to modern Daghestanian family, especially Lezgin. (russian text: Пестрое в этническом плане население левобережной Албании в это время все больше переходит на персидский язык. Главным образом это относится к городам Арана и Ширвана, как стали в IX-Х вв. именоваться два главные области на территории Азербайджана. Что касается сельского населения, то оно, по-видимому, в основном сохраняло еще долгое время свои старые языки, родственные современным дагестанским, прежде всего лезгинскому.</ref><ref>. - {{ISBN|5-85733-042-4}}. cтр. 730-731 ]. The book of memoirs.</ref>

After the Turkification of the region, the population became Turkic speaking, and thus referred to by ], particularly the ], as Tartars. They were much later called Azerbaijanis.

With the exception of some Udi, the population of Arran which remained Christian, was ultimately absorbed by the Armenians and in part by the Georgians.<ref name="Hewsen"/>


==See also== ==See also==
*]
⚫ * ]
* ] *]
*]
* ]
⚫ *]
* ]
*]
⚫ *]
*]

⚫ ==References==
{{Reflist}}


==Sources== ==Sources==
* Bashi, Munnjim, '''Duwal Al-Islam''' * Bashi, Munnjim, '''Duwal Al-Islam'''
* ], '''Studies in Caucasian History''' * ], Studies in Caucasian History, Cambridge University Press, 1957
* Volkmar Gantzhorn, '''Oriental Carpets''' * Volkmar Gantzhorn, '''Oriental Carpets'''


{{Azerbaijan topics}}
⚫ ==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*
*
*


{{WikidataCoord|display=title}}
⚫ ]
⚫ ]
⚫ ]


]
]
⚫ ]
]
⚫ ]

Latest revision as of 23:46, 19 November 2024

Region located in modern-day Azerbaijan, historically in Iran This article is about the geographic region. For the political entity, see Caucasian Albania. For the province, see Caucasian Albania (Sasanian province).
Aras and Kura river map
Arran is located to the west of the Caspian Sea.

Arran (Middle Persian form; Persian: اران or اردان), also known as Aran or Ardan, was a geographical name used in ancient and medieval times to signify a historically-Iranian region which lay within the triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of the Kura and Aras rivers, including the highland and lowland Karabakh, Mil plain and parts of the Mughan plain. In pre-Islamic times, it corresponded roughly to the territory of the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan. The term is the Middle Persian equivalent to the Greco-Roman Albania. It was known as Aghvania, Alvan-k in Armenian, and Al-ran (Arabized form of Arran) in Arabic.

Today, the term Aran is mainly used in Azerbaijan to indicate territories consisting of Mil and Mughan plains (mostly, Beylagan, Imishli, Kurdamir, Saatly, Sabirabad provinces of the Republic of Azerbaijan). It has also been used by Iranian historian Enayatollah Reza to refer to the country of Azerbaijan, freeing the name "Azerbaijan" to refer to a region within Iran. The bulk of the territory of the republic of Azerbaijan was the historic Shirvan, as well as Quba/Qubbah).

Name

See also: List of geographic names of Iranian origin
An old map that shows the name of Iran in the area of Aran.

The region is known as Ardhan in Parthian, Al-Ran in Arabic, Aghvank or Alvank in Armenian, Rani (Georgian: რანი) in Georgian and Caucasian Albania in Latin.

According to the Movses Kagankatvatsi, Arran or Arhan was the name of the legendary founder of Caucasian Albania, who in some versions was the son of Noah's son Yafet (Japheth) and also, possibly the eponym of the ancient Caucasian Albanians (Aghvan), and/or the Iranian tribe known as Alans (Alani). The nearby Araks (Aras) river was known to Ancient Greek geographers as the Araxes, and has a source near Mount Ararat. James Darmesteter, in his discussion of the geography of the Avesta's Vendidad I, observes that the 12th century Bundahishn (29:12) identified the "Airyana Vaego by the Vanguhi Daitya" on the northern border of Azerbaijan, and did so "probably in order that it should be as near as possible to the seat of the Zoroastrian religion yet without losing its supernatural character by the counter-evidence of facts." Darmesteter further associated the Vanguhi Daitya river with the Araxes, and compared the name "Airyana Vaego" with that of Arran.

According to English historian and Orientalist C.E. Bosworth:

The Georgians knew them as Rani, a form taken over in an Arabized form for the early Islamic geographical term al-Rān (pronounced ar-Rān).

Later Greek writers also call the country Ariania instead of Albania, and the people Arianoi instead of Albanoi. In some Classical authors one finds the form Arian/Aryan.

Boundaries

Main article: History of the name Azerbaijan

In pre-Islamic times, Caucasian Albania/Arran was a wider concept than that of post-Islamic Arran. Ancient Arran covered all of eastern Transcaucasia, which included most of the territory of the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic and part of the territory of Dagestan. However, in post-Islamic times the geographic notion of Arran shrank to the territory between the rivers of Kura and Araks.

A medieval chronicle, the "Ajayib-ad-Dunya", written in the 13th century by an unknown author, says Arran was 30 parasangs (200 km) in width, and 40 farsakhs (270 km) in length. The entire right bank of the Kura river until it joined with the Aras was attributed to Arran (the left bank of the Kura was known as Shirvan). The boundaries of Arran have shifted throughout history, sometimes encompassing the entire territory of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, and at other times only parts of the South Caucasus. Sometimes Arran was part of Armenia.

Medieval Islamic geographers gave descriptions of Arran in general, and of its towns, including Barda, Beylagan, and Ganja.

History

History of Arran is summarized in History of Azerbaijan section, where you can refer for detailed description.

Pre-Islamic

Main articles: Caucasian Albania and Albania (satrapy)
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016)

Islamic

Banner of Arran (Rani) according to Vakhushti

Following the Arab invasion of Iran, the Arabs invaded the Caucasus in the 8th century and most of the former territory of Caucasian Albania was included under the name of Arran. This region was at times part of the Abbasid Caliphate based on numismatic and historical evidence. Dynasties of Parthian or Persian descent, such as the Mihranids had come to rule the territory during Sassanian times. Its kings were given the title Arranshah, and after the Arab invasions, fought against the caliphate from the late 7th to middle 8th centuries.

Early Muslim ruling dynasties of the time included Rawadids, Sajids, Salarids, Shaddadids, Shirvanshahs, and the Sheki and Tiflis emirates. The principal cities of Arran in early medieval times were Bardha'a (Partav) and Ganja. Bardha'a reached prominence in the 10th century and was used to house a mint. Bardha'a was sacked by the Rus and Norse several times in the 10th century as a result of the Caspian expeditions of the Rus. Bardha'a never recovered after these raids and was replaced as capital by Beylaqan, which in turn was sacked by the Mongols in 1221. After this Ganja rose to prominence and became the central city of the region. The capital of the Shaddadid dynasty, Ganja was considered the "mother city of Arran" during their reign.

The territory of Arran became a part of the Seljuq Empire, followed by the Ildegizid state. It was taken briefly by the Khwarizmid dynasty and then overran by Mongol Hulagu empire in the 13th century. Later, it became a part of Chobanid, Jalayirid, Timurid, and Iranian Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar states which means at least from 1500 until 1828, when Iran lost a major battle to the expanding Russian Empire and as a result had to sign the Treaty of Turkmenchay (Russian: Туркманчайский договор, Persian: عهدنامه ترکمنچای) in which it had to concede all the Caucasus territories to Russia.

People

See also: Origin of the Azerbaijanis

The population of Arran consisted of a great variety of peoples. Greek, Roman and Armenian authors provide the names of some peoples who inhabited the lands between the Kur and Araxes rivers:

In the late 4th century, when the region passed to Caucasian Albania, its population consisted of Armenians and Armenicized aborigines, though many of the latter were still cited as distinct ethnic entities.

In pre-Islamic times the population of Arran and most of Caucasian Albania had mostly been Christian who belonged to the Church of Caucasian Albania. Under Arabic rule (7th to 9th centuries) a part of the population was Islamicized and adopted Alevism. Muslim chronicles of the 10th century reported that some of the population of Arran spoke al-rānīya, as well as Arabic and Persian languages. Because there is no written evidence, some scholars have presumed al-rānīya to be an Iranian dialect while others have presumed it to be a remnant of a Caucasian Albanian language. The area in which there was Ganja, during the 9th to 12th century named Arran; its urban population spoke mainly in Persian.

After the Turkification of the region, the population became Turkic speaking, and thus referred to by Europeans, particularly the Russians, as Tartars. They were much later called Azerbaijanis.

With the exception of some Udi, the population of Arran which remained Christian, was ultimately absorbed by the Armenians and in part by the Georgians.

See also

References

  1. EI. (2011) . "AZERBAIJAN". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 2-3. pp. 205–257. The name Azerbaijan was also adopted for Arrān, historically an Iranian region, by anti-Russian separatist forces of the area when, on 26 May 1918, they declared its independence and called it the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan.
  2. ^ Bosworth, C. E. "ARRĀN". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  3. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The Society, published 1902, page 64. Text states: "In Mustawfi's lists, however, the Arabic article has everywhere disappeared and we have Ray, Mawsil, etc.; while names such as Ar-Ran and Ar-Ras (spelt Al-Ran, Al-Ras in the Arabic writing), which in the older geographers had thus the false appearance of Arab names, in the pages of Mustawfi appear in plain Persian as Arran and Aras."
  4. Prasad, Ganga. The Fountain Head of Religion. Published by the Book Tree in 2000, page 46
  5. ^ V. Minorsky. Caucasica IV. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 15, No. 3. (1953), p. 504
  6. "Arran, the real name of Adjerbadjan", Interview with Reza, Iran Chamber Society, retrieved 2010-02-28.
  7. Juvaynī, ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malik (1997). Genghis Khan: the history of the world conqueror. Manchester University Press ND. p. 148. ISBN 0-7190-5145-2. The province of Arran, classical Albania, lay within the great triangle of land formed by the junction of the Kur and the Aras, of which the greater portion now forms part of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan, the remainder belonging to the Republic of Armenia
  8. Kirakos' History of the Armenians
  9. Moses Kalankatuatsi. History of the country of Aluank. Chapter IV.
  10. Darmesteter, James (trans., ed.). "Vendidad." Zend Avesta I (SBE 4). Oxford University Press, 1880. p. 3, p. 5 n.2,3.
  11. Darmesteter's translation and notes
  12. Barthold, W. ""Arrān", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition".
  13. Richard Nelson Frye. ""Arrān", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition". E. J. BRILL. The origin of the name Arrān, Georgian Rani, Greek 'Αλβανοὶ, and Armenian Alwankʿ (people), is unknown. (In some Classical authors one finds the form Arian/Aryan, and in Arabic sources one can find al-Ran).
  14. Abi Ali Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Rustah, al-A'laq Al-Nafisah, Tab'ah 1,Bayrut : Dar al-Kutub al-ʻIlmiyah, 1998, pg 96-98.
  15. ^ Hewsen, Robert H. Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians, in: Samuelian, Thomas J. (Hg.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity, Chico: 1982, 27-40.
  16. In Russian, text states: Язык в Адербейджане, Армении и Арране персидский и арабский, исключая области города Дабиля: вокруг него говорят по-армянски: в стране Берда'а язык арранский. Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  17. Al-Muqaddasi, 985 Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  18. Ibn-Hawqal, 978 Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  19. Encyclopedia Iranica, "Azerbaijan: Islamic history to 1941." C. E. Bosworth:"North of the Aras, the distinct, presumably Iranian, speech of Arrān long survived, called by Ebn Hawqal al-rānīya"
  20. История Востока. В 6 т. Т. 2. Восток в средние века. М., «Восточная литература», 2002. ISBN 5-02-017711-3 (History of the East. In 6 volumes. Volume 2. Moscow, publishing house of the Russian Academy of sciences «East literature»): The multi-ethnic population of Albania's left-bank (of the Kura) at this time is increasingly moving toward the Persian language. Mainly this applies to cities of Aran and Shirvan, as begin from 9-10 centuries named two main areas in the territory of Azerbaijan. With regard to the rural population, it would seem, mostly retained for a long time, their old languages, related to modern Daghestanian family, especially Lezgin. (russian text: Пестрое в этническом плане население левобережной Албании в это время все больше переходит на персидский язык. Главным образом это относится к городам Арана и Ширвана, как стали в IX-Х вв. именоваться два главные области на территории Азербайджана. Что касается сельского населения, то оно, по-видимому, в основном сохраняло еще долгое время свои старые языки, родственные современным дагестанским, прежде всего лезгинскому.
  21. Дьяконов, Игорь Михайлович. Книга воспоминаний. Издательство "Европейский дом", Санкт-Петербург, 1995., 1995. - ISBN 5-85733-042-4. cтр. 730-731 Igor Diakonov. The book of memoirs.

Sources

  • Bashi, Munnjim, Duwal Al-Islam
  • Minorsky, V., Studies in Caucasian History, Cambridge University Press, 1957
  • Volkmar Gantzhorn, Oriental Carpets
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