Arran (Middle Persian form;Persian: اران or اردهان), also known asAran orArdhan, was a geographical name used inancient andmedieval times to signify a historically-Iranian[1]region which lay within the triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of theKura andAras rivers,[2] including the highland and lowlandKarabakh,[2]Mil plain and parts of theMughan plain. In pre-Islamic times, it corresponded roughly to the territory of the modern-dayRepublic of Azerbaijan.[2] The term is theMiddle Persian[3][4] equivalent to theGreco-RomanAlbania. It was known asAghvania,Alvan-k[5] inArmenian, andAl-ran[5][2] (Arabized form ofArran[3]) inArabic.
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 historianEnayatollah Reza to refer to the country of Azerbaijan, freeing the name "Azerbaijan" to refer to a region within Iran.[6] The bulk of the territory of the republic of Azerbaijan was the historicShirvan, as well asQuba/Qubbah).
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The region is known asArdhan inParthian,Al-Ran inArabic,[5][2]Aghvank orAlvank inArmenian,Rani (Georgian:რანი) inGeorgian andCaucasian Albania inLatin.[5][7]
According to theMovses Kagankatvatsi,Arran orArhan[8] was the name of the legendary founder ofCaucasian Albania, who in some versions was the son ofNoah's son Yafet (Japheth) and also, possibly the eponym of the ancient Caucasian Albanians (Aghvan),[9] and/or the Iranian tribe known asAlans (Alani). The nearbyAraks (Aras) river was known toAncient Greekgeographers as theAraxes, and has a source nearMount Ararat.James Darmesteter, in his discussion of the geography of theAvesta'sVendidad I, observes that the 12th centuryBundahishn (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."[10] Darmesteter further associated the Vanguhi Daitya river with the Araxes, and compared the name "Airyana Vaego" with that of Arran.[11]
According to English historian andOrientalistC.E. Bosworth:
The Georgians knew them [the Caucasian Albanians] 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.[12] In some Classical authors one finds the form Arian/Aryan.[13]
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 ofDagestan. However, in post-Islamic times the geographic notion of Arran shrank to the territory between the rivers of Kura and Araks.[2]
A medieval chronicle, the "Ajayib-ad-Dunya", written in the 13th century by an unknown author, says Arran was 30parasangs (200 km) in width, and 40farsakhs (270 km) in length. The entire right bank of theKura river until it joined with the Aras was attributed to Arran (the left bank of the Kura was known asShirvan). 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 theSouth Caucasus. Sometimes Arran was part of Armenia.[14]
MedievalIslamic geographers gave descriptions of Arran in general, and of its towns, includingBarda,Beylagan, andGanja.
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Following theArab invasion of Iran, the Arabs invaded the Caucasus in the 8th century and most of the former territory ofCaucasian Albania was included under the name of Arran. This region was at times part of theAbbasid Caliphate based onnumismatic and historical evidence. Dynasties ofParthian orPersian descent, such as theMihranids had come to rule the territory duringSassanian times. Its kings were given the titleArranshah, and after the Arab invasions, fought against the caliphate from the late 7th to middle 8th centuries.
EarlyMuslim ruling dynasties of the time includedRawadids,Sajids,Salarids,Shaddadids,Shirvanshahs, and theSheki andTiflis emirates. The principal cities of Arran in early medieval times wereBardha'a (Partav) andGanja. Bardha'a reached prominence in the 10th century and was used to house amint. Bardha'a was sacked by theRus andNorse several times in the 10th century as a result of theCaspian expeditions of the Rus. Bardha'a never recovered after these raids and was replaced as capital byBeylaqan, 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 theShaddadid dynasty, Ganja was considered the "mother city of Arran" during their reign.
The territory of Arran became a part of theSeljuq Empire, followed by theIldegizid state. It was taken briefly by theKhwarizmid dynasty and then overran byMongol Hulagu empire in the 13th century. Later, it became a part ofChobanid,Jalayirid,Timurid, and IranianSafavid,Afsharid, andQajar 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 theTreaty of Turkmenchay (Russian:Туркманчайский договор,Persian:عهدنامه ترکمنچای) in which it had to concede all theCaucasus territories to Russia.
The population of Arran consisted of a great variety of peoples.[15] 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.[15]
In pre-Islamic times the population of Arran and most of Caucasian Albania had mostly been Christian who belonged to theChurch of Caucasian Albania.[2] Under Arabic rule (7th to 9th centuries) a part of the population was Islamicized and adoptedAlevism. Muslim chronicles of the 10th century reported that some of the population of Arran spoke al-rānīya, as well asArabic andPersian languages.[16][17][18] Because there is no written evidence, some scholars have presumed al-rānīya to be anIranian dialect[19] 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.[20][21]
After the Turkification of the region, the population became Turkic speaking, and thus referred to byEuropeans, particularly theRussians, 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.[15]
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.
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
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).
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