- Shirvanis
Shirvanis is a reference to the people, inhabiting the region of
Shirvan inAzerbaijan . Historically Shirvan's population consisted of Caucasian speaking peoples such as Lezgi, Avars, Udis, Kriz, and Iranian speakingTats . This population was slowly Turkified since the 11th century onward, yet some speakers of the Caucasian and Iranian languages still live in the distant villages ofShamakha ,Shaki ,Qabala , andOguz .The bulk of the population consisted of Turkic speakers with an admixture of Arabs and Persians. [The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. 1833. “Georgia”.]
According to "The Earth and its Inhabitants", published in 1891:
At the same time, according to "An Illustrated Description of the Russian Empire" published in 1855, the population of Shirvan was mostly made up of Persians:
However, in Russian empire Shia Muslims in general were referred to as Persians. Russian
Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary , published in 1890-1907, stated that the most numerous people inBaku governorate were “Azerbaijani Tatars, who are absolutely incorrectly called Persians. They are similar to Persians in many ways, but their language is Turko-Tatar”. ru icon [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/007/7734.htm Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. "Baku".] St. Petersburg, Russia, 1890-1907]To distinguish Turkic speakers of Iranian descent from other Turkic peoples, the Russians introduced the term "Azerbaijani" in the later half the 19th century. Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, published in 1890, states [ru icon [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/007/103/103729.htm Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. "Turks".] St. Petersburg, Russia, 1890-1907] :
The term Shirvani/Shirvanli is still in use in Azerbaijan to designate the people of Shirvan region, as it was historically.Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995. pg 10, 16]
ee also
*
Arran (Republic of Azerbaijan)
*Republic of Azerbaijan
*Azerbaijani people
*Caucasian origin of the Azerbaijanis References
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