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This article is about the region in Iran; for other uses, see Azerbaijan (disambiguation).

Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan, also Iranian Azarbaijan, Iranian Azerbaijan, or Persian Azarbaijan (Persian: آذربایجان ایران; Āzārbāijān-e Irān; Azerbaijani language: آذربایجان , Kurdish: Azirbaycan/Adirbaycan), is a region in northwestern Iran and south of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The region is sometimes called South Azerbaijan or Southern Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani language: گوني آذربایجان, Güney Azərbaycan); however, some sources view these terms as being incorrect and politically motivated. For more information see the article History of the name Azerbaijan.

Etymology and usage

The name Azerbaijan itself is derived from Atropates, the Satrap (governor) of Media in the Achaemenid empire, who ruled a region found in modern Iranian Azarbaijan called Atropatene. Atropates name is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire." The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide which translates literally to: We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata.. َAccording to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the name of the province was pronounced as: In Middle Persian the name of the province was called Āturpātākān, older new-Persian Ādharbādhagān آذربادگان/آذرآبادگان, Ādharbāyagān, at present Āzerbāydjān/Āzarbāydjān, Greek ᾿Ατροπατήνη, Byzantine Greek ᾿Αδραβιγάνων, Armenian Atrapatakan,Syriac Adhorbāyghān.. The name Atropat in Middle Persian was transformed to Adharbad and is connected with Zoroastranism. A famous Zoroastrian priest by the name Adarbad Mahraspandan is well known for his counsels. . Azerbaijan, due to its numerous fire-temples has also been quoted in a variety of historic sources as being the birth place of the prophet Zoroaster although modern scholars have not yeat reached an agreement on the location of his birth.

Geography

Iranian Azarbaijan is generally considered the northwest portion of Iran compromising the provinces of Zanjan, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan and Ardabil. It shares borders with the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, and Iraq and a population of about 8 million(1996). Azarbaijan is famous for its great natural beauty. There are 17 rivers and two lakes in the region. Cotton, nuts, textiles, tea, machinery and electrical equipments are main industries. The northern, alpine region, which includes Lake Urmia, is mountainous, with deep valleys and fertile lowlands.

Agriculture

Grains, fruits, cotton, rice, nuts, and tobacco are the staple crops of the region.

Industries and handicrafts

Industries include machine tools, vehicle factories, oil refinery, petrochemical complex, food processing, cement, textiles, electric equipment, and sugar milling. Oil and gas pipelines run through the region. Wool, carpets, and metal ware are also produced.

People

Azerbaijan, the main Turkic-speaking area and one of the richest and one of the most densely populated regions of Iran, presents a picture of ethnic distinctiveness and homogeneity that is perhaps misleading. Not only are there various linguistic, religious, and tribal minority groups, and Azerbaijanis themselves have settled widely outside the region. . The Azeris are followers of Shi'a Islam. Azeris make up the majority of the population in the Iranian region of Azarbaijan and Almost all of the population of East Azarbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan are Azerbaijanis. There is also a sizeable number of Kurds to the west of the Urmia lake. Smaller groups of Armenians, Assyrians,Talyshs, Jews, Georgians, and Persians also inhabit the region.

Provinces and cities

Iranian Azarbaijan is divided into the provinces of East Azarbaijan (1996 pop. 3,325,540), West Azarbaijan (1996 pop. 2,496,320), Ardabil. (1996 pop. 1,168,011), Zanjan (1996 pop. 900,890) The chief cities include Tabriz (the capital of East Azarbaijan), Urmia (the capital of West Azerbaijan), Ardabil (the capital of Ardabil), Maragheh, Marand, Zanjan, and Khoy (Khvoy). The region is bounded in the north by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan and in the West by Lake Urmia and Kurdish-inhabited areas of Iran, and in the East by the Caspian Sea and Gilan.

History

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The oldest kingdom known in Iranian Azerbaijan is that of the Mannea who ruled a region southeast of Lake Urmia centered around modern Saqqez. The Manneans were confederation of Iranian and non-Iranian groups. According to Professor Zadok

it is unlikely that there was any ethnolinguistic unity in Mannea. Like other peoples of the Iranian plateau, the Manneans were subjected to an ever increasing Iranian (i.e., Indo-European) penetration.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the medes were an:

Indo-European people, related to the Persians, who entered northeastern Iran probably as early as the 17th century BC and settled in the plateau land that came to be known as Media.

By the 8th century BC, Azerbaijan as well as Hamadan, Tehran and Esfahan had been settled by Medes. Azerbaijan later formed the province of Media Minor in the Persian Empire.

After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, he appointed (328 BC) as governor the Median or Persian general Atropates, who eventually established an independent dynasty. Later, the region, which came to be called Atropatene or Media Atropatene, was much disputed. In the 2nd century BC, it was liberated from Seleucid domination by Mithradates I of Arsacid dynasty, and c. AD 226 it became part of the Sassanid Empire of Ardashir I. Under the Sassanids, Azarbaijan was ruled by a marzubān and towards the end of the period belonged to the family of Farrukh-Hormozd. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, briefly held the region in the 7th century until it became under the lordship of Sassanids again. After the Islamic Conquest of Iran; Arab invaders converted most of its people to Islam and made it part of the caliphate.

After the revolt of Babak Khorramdin, the grip of the Abbassid caliphate on Azerbaijan weakned. Afterwards native dynasties sprang up in Azerbaijan. Later on Azerbaijan was taken by the Daylamite Marzuban b. Muḥammad. The Daylamites were succeeded by the Kurdish Rawwadids (373-463/983-1070). After coming to confrontations with the local Kurdish populations who had already established their own dynasties and emirates in vast areas of Azarbaijan, the Seljuks dominated the region in the 11th and early 12th centuries. In 531/1136 Azerbaijan fell to the lot of the Atabakan-e-Azerbaijan and Atabakan-e-Maragheh. It was invaded by the Khwarizm Shah Jalal ad-din until the advent of the Mongol Invasion.

The Mongols under Hulagu Khan established (13th century) their capital at Maragheh. After being conquered by Timur in the 14th century, Tabriz became an important provincial capital of the Timurid empire. Later, Tabriz was the capital of the Qara Qoyunlu empire. It was out of Ardabil (ancient Artavilla) that the Safavid dynasty arose (c. 1500) to renew the state of Persia and establish Shi'ism as the official religion of Iran.

There was fierce fighting between the Ottoman Empire and Persia for Azerbaijan. After brief Ottoman control, Shah Abbas the Great, regained control of the region in 1603. After 907/1502, Azarbaijan became the chief bulwark and military based of the Safavids. In the meantime, between 1514 and 1603, the Ottomans frequently occupied Tabriz and other parts of the province. The Safavid control was restored by Shah Abbas but during the Afghan invasion (1135-42/1722-8) the Ottomans recaptured Azarbaijan and other western provinces of Iran, until Nadir Shah expelled them. In the beginning of the reign of Karim Khan Zand the Afghan Azad Khan revolted in Azarbaijan and later the Dumbuli Kurds of khoy and other tribal chiefs lorded it over various parts of Azarbaijan. With the advent of the Qajars, Azarbaijan became the traditional residence of the heirs-apparent. At this time, the final northern frontier of Iran with Russia (along the Araxes) was established in 1828 (Turkmanchay Treaty). After 1905 the representatives of Azarbaijan were very active in the Iranian constitutional revolution.

The Russian (Tsarist) army occupied Iranian Azerbaijan in 1909, and again in 1912-1915 period, and the Bolshevik forces occupied Iranian Azerbaijan and other parts of Iran in 1920-1921, and the Soviet forces occupied Iranian Azarbaijan in 1941 and created a very short-lived autonomous, Soviet-supported state in May 1946, which was dissolved after reunification of Iranian Azerbaijan with Iran in November of the same year. . Azerbaijani provinces have played a major in the cultural and economic life of Iran in both the Pahlavi era as well as the Islamic revolution.

Recent years marked some disturbances in the region. In May 2006 unrest in Tabriz and other cities was caused by Azeri Cartoon Controversy in "Iran" Newspaper.

Culture

Azeris are culturally very close to the rest of the Iranians though their language is Turkic. The people of Azerbaijan have similar DNA to other Iranian peoples as well as their religion which is Shia Islam. This may be the most important characteristic of the Azeris setting them apart from other Turkic speakers (who are mostly Sunni Muslims). Azeris celebrate Nouruz for the turn of the new Iranian year, the arrival of spring. Azerbaijan has a distinct music in Iran. Many local dances and folk music continue to survive among the various peoples of the provinces. Although Azerbaijani language is not an official language it is widely used, mostly in an oral tradition, among the Azeris in Iran. Many poets that came from Azerbaijan wrote poetry in both Persian and Azerbaijani. Renowned poets in Azerbaijani language are Nasimi, Shah Ismail I (who was known with the pen-name Khatai), Fuzuli, and Mohammad Hossein Shahriar. Fuzuli and Nasimi were probably born outside what is now Iranian Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani was the dominant language of the ruling dynasties of the Turkic rulers of the area such as the Ak Koyunlu and later it was used in the Safavid courts for a short time, until Persian was adopted, however, Turkic was used especially among the Kizilbash warriors. As a longstanding province of Iran (Persia), Azerbaijan is mentioned favorably on many occasions in Persian literature by Iran's greatest authors and poets. Examples:

گزیده هر چه در ایران بزرگان
زآذربایگان و ری و گرگان
All the nobles and greats of Iran,
Choose from Azarbaijan, Ray, and Gorgan.
—Vis o Ramin

از آنجا بتدبیر آزادگان
بیامد سوی آذرآبادگان
From there the wise and the free,
set off to Azarbaijan
—Nizami

بیک ماه در آذرآبادگان
ببودند شاهان و آزادگان
For a month's time, The Kings and The Free,
Would choose in Azarbaijan to be
—Ferdowsi

Colleges and Universities

• Sahand University of Technology
• Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
• University of Tabriz
• Urmia University of Medical Sciences
• Urmia University
• Ardabil University of Medical Sciences
• Mohaghegh Ardabili University
• Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS)

See also

• Atropatene
• Iranian theory regarding the origin of the Azerbaijanis
• History of the name Azerbaijan
• Ancient Azari language
• Iranian Azeris

External links

• "Azerbaijan" (Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition; 2001-05)
• Azerbaijan entries in the Encyclopedia Iranica

References

1. Encyclopaedia Iranica: "Azerbaijan", viii "Azerbaijan Turkish", Doerfer, G. page 246, (LINK)
2. Brown, Cameron S. 2002 (Dec.). "Observations from Azerbaijan." Middle East Review of International Affairs: v. 6, no. 4, (LINK)
3. Michael P. Croissant, "The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications", Praeger/Greenwood, 1998
4. Ethnic Conflict and International Security, Edited by Michael E. Brown, Princeton University Press, 1993
5. Atroapates. Encyclopedia Iranica.
6. Encyclopædia Iranica, "ATROPATES" M. L. Chaumont.
7. FRAWARDIN YASHT ("Hymn to the Guardian Angels") Translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East, American Edition, 1898)
8. Minorsky, V.; Minorsky, V. "Azerbaijan" Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P.Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill
9. R. C. Zaehner, The Teachings of the Magi, London, 1956, p. 101
10. G. Gnoli, Zoroaster's time and homeland, Naples, 1980
11. M. N. POGREBOVA, Encyclopedia Iranica, ARCHEOLOGY. viii. NORTHERN AZERBAIJAN (REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN), June 16, 2004
12. Encyclopaedia Iranica, page 243 = accessed January 09, 2007
13. Provinces of Iran - 1996 Census figures, page last updated: 2006-04-19, accessed April 2, 2007
14. MANNEA by R. Zadok in Encyclopaedia Iranica
15. "Mede." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 12 Feb. 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9051719>
16. Younes Parsa Benab, "The Gilan Soviet Republic and Azadistan in Iranian Azerbaijan (1917-1921)", accessed April 2, 2007
17. Cold War International History Project Virtual Archive 2.0 Collection : 1945-46 Iranian Crisis
18. "Maziar Ashrafian Bonab" — Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge (retrieved 9 June 2006)
19. "Cambridge Genetic Study of Iran" — ISNA (Iranian Students News Agency), 06-12-2006, news-code: 8503-06068 (retrieved 9 June 2006)

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