History of Karabakh
Karabakh is one of the oldest places in the Azerbaijan, as well as in the world. The name “Karabakh” is made up of two Azerbaijani words “qara” (black) and “bağ” (garden). On the territory of Karabakh, Azykh Cave, an ancient place of settlement of primitive people, is located. Owing to number of mountains and hills located there, Karabakh is also called Nagorno-Karabakh, which in Russian abbreviation means “on the mountain”. Lakes, rivers and mountains, that were developed over thousands of years, make this place significantly fascinating.
The territory of Karabakh was depicted by Mirza Jamal Javanshir, the Vezir of Karabakh Khanate, in his work, “History of Karabakh,” which was written in 1847. He wrote: “The boundaries of the Karabakh region are: from the southern side, from the Khudaverin bridge to the Synyk bridge — the Araz river. The Synyk bridge is located between the Kazakh, Shamsaddin and Demirchi-Hasanli jamaats (regions), and officials of the Russian state call it the Red Bridge (Golden Bridge). On the East, Kura River, in the village of Javad, merges with the Araz River, and flows into the Caspian Sea. From the northern side to the Kura River, which is the border with Elizavetpol, the border of the region is the Choran River and the Kura River in many places reaches the Araz River. On the western side there are sharp-edged Karabakh mountains with vertexes called Kushbek, Salverty and Arikli.”
In 1968, the lower jaw of a woman was found in Azykh Cave. It is estimated that she lived 400 thousand years ago. There are other finds from the ancient places in Karabakh, which confirm economic, and cultural ties with the Middle East. Along with the economic, and cultural life, ethnopolitical processes were developed. As time passed, states were formed. The first mighty state was Manna. It was created in the IX century B.C. Afterwards, Karabakh was under the rule of Media state and later Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid Empire was destructed by Alexander the Great. After his death, Macedonian Empire was divided: on the North, Albania State was developed and on the South-Atropatena. The state of Albania existed from the IV century B.C. to the VIII century C.E. and played a big role in the history of Azerbaijan. The whole territory of Karabakh was part of the Albanian state.
The fact that Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan, and various Turkic ethnic groups have lived here since ancient times, is confirmed by the “Kitabi-Dede Gorgud”, which is a splendid monument of Azerbaijani and Turkic oral folk art. The legends of Dede Gorgud in the 6th-7th centuries were spread in all Azerbaijani lands, including Karabakh and the region of Lake Goycha.
