Present-day nameAzerbaijan is the Arabicized form ofĀzarpāyegān (Persian: آذرپایگان) meaning 'the guardians offire' later becomingAzerbaijan (Persian: آذربایجان) due to the phonemic shift from /p/ to /b/ and /g/ to /dʒ/ which is a result of the medieval Arabic influences that followed theArab invasion of Iran, and is due to the lack of the phoneme /p/ and /g/ in theArabic language.[60] The wordAzarpāyegān itself is ultimately from Old PersianĀturpātakān (Persian: آتورپاتکان)[61][62] meaning 'the land associated with (satrap) Aturpat' or 'the land of fire guardians' (-an, in its postvocalic form-kān, is a suffix for association or forming adverbs and plurals;[59] e.g.:Gilan 'land associated withGil people').[63]
The modern ethnonym "Azerbaijani" or "Azeri" refers to the Turkic peoples ofIran's northwestern historic region ofAzerbaijan (also known as Iranian Azerbaijan) and the Republic ofAzerbaijan.[64] They historically called themselves or were referred to by others as Muslims and/or Turks. They were also referred to asAjam (meaning from Iran), using the term incorrectly to denote their Shia belief rather than ethnic identity.[65] When theSouthern Caucasus became part of theRussian Empire in the nineteenth century, the Russian authorities, who traditionally referred to allTurkic people asTatars, defined Tatars living in the Transcaucasus region as Caucasian Tatars or more rarely[66] Aderbeijanskie (Адербейджанские) Tatars or even[67] Persian Tatars in order to distinguish them from other Turkic groups and thePersian speakers of Iran.[67][68] The RussianBrockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, written in the 1890s, also referred to Tatars in Azerbaijan as Aderbeijans (адербейджаны),[69] but noted that the term had not been widely adopted.[70] This ethnonym was also used byJoseph Deniker in 1900.[71]In Azerbaijani language publications, the expression "Azerbaijani nation" referring to those who were known as Tatars of the Caucasus first appeared in the newspaperKashkul in 1880.[72]
During the earlySoviet period, the term "TranscaucasianTatars" was supplanted by "Azerbaijani Turks" and ultimately "Azerbaijanis."[73][74][75] For some time afterwards, the term "Azerbaijanis" was then applied to all Turkic-speaking Muslims in Transcaucasia, from theMeskhetian Turks in southwesternGeorgia, to theTerekemes of southernDagestan, as well as assimilatedTats andTalysh.[74] The temporary designation of Meskhetian Turks as "Azerbaijanis" was most likely related to the existing administrative framework of theTranscaucasian SFSR, as theAzerbaijan SSR was one of its founding members.[76] After the establishment of the Azerbaijan SSR,[77] on the order of Soviet leaderStalin, the "name of the formal language" of the Azerbaijan SSR was also "changed from Turkic to Azerbaijani".[77]
Exonym
TheChechen andIngush names for Azerbaijanis[a] areGhezloy/Ghoazloy (ГӀезлой/ГӀоазлой) andGhazaroy/Ghazharey (ГӀажарой/ГӀажарей). The former goes back to the name ofQizilbash while the latter goes back to the name ofQajars, having presumably emerged in Chechen and Ingush languages during thereign of Qajars in Iran in the 18th–19th centuries.[79]
Ancient residents of the area, known asAzaris, spokeOld Azeri from theIranian branch of theIndo-European languages.[80] In the 11th century AD with Seljuq conquests,Oghuz Turkic tribes started moving across the Iranian Plateau into the Caucasus and Anatolia. The influx of the Oghuz and otherTurkmen tribes was further accentuated by the Mongol invasion.[81] These Turkmen tribes spread as smaller groups, a number of which settled down in the Caucasus and Iran, resulting in theTurkification of the local population. Over time they converted toShia Islam and gradually absorbedAzerbaijan andShirvan.[82]
Ancient period
Caucasian-speakingAlbanian tribes are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the region in the north of Aras river, where the Republic of Azerbaijan is located.[83] The region also sawScythian settlement in the ninth century BC, following which theMedes came to dominate the area to the south of theAras River.[84]
Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenids in 330 BC, but allowed the Median satrap Atropates to remain in power. Following the decline of theSeleucids in Persia in 247 BC, anArmenian Kingdom exercised control over parts ofCaucasian Albania.[85]Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the first century BC and largely remained independent until thePersian Sassanids made their kingdom avassal state in 252 AD.[2]: 38 Caucasian Albania's ruler, KingUrnayr, went to Armenia and then officially adoptedChristianity as the state religion in the fourth century AD, and Albania remained a Christian state until the 8th century.[86][87]
Medieval period
Sassanid control ended with their defeat by theRashidun Caliphate in 642 AD through theMuslim conquest of Persia.[88] The Arabs made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by PrinceJavanshir, surrendered in 667.[2]: 71 Between the ninth and tenth centuries, Arab authors began to refer to the region between theKura andAras rivers asArran.[2]: 20 During this time, Arabs fromBasra andKufa came to Azerbaijan and seized lands that indigenous peoples had abandoned; the Arabs became a land-owning elite.[89]: 48 Conversion to Islam was slow as local resistance persisted for centuries and resentment grew as small groups of Arabs began migrating to cities such asTabriz andMaraghah. This influx sparked a major rebellion inIranian Azerbaijan from 816 to 837, led an IranianZoroastrian commoner namedBabak Khorramdin.[90] However, despite pockets of continued resistance, the majority of the inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. Later, in the 10th and 11th centuries, parts of Azerbaijan were ruled by theKurdish dynasty ofShaddadid andArabRadawids.
In the middle of the eleventh century, theSeljuq dynasty overthrew Arab rule and established an empire that encompassed most ofSouthwest Asia. The Seljuk period marked the influx ofOghuz nomads into the region. The emerging dominance of the Turkic language was chronicled in epic poems ordastans, the oldest being theBook of Dede Korkut, which relateallegorical tales about the early Turks in the Caucasus andAsia Minor.[2]: 45 Turkic dominion was interrupted by theMongols in 1227, but it returned with theTimurids and thenSunniQara Qoyunlū (Black Sheep Turkmen) andAq Qoyunlū (White Sheep Turkmen), who dominated Azerbaijan, large parts of Iran, eastern Anatolia, and other minor parts of West Asia, until theShi'aSafavids took power in 1501.[2]: 113 [89]: 285
Shirvan Tatar (i.e. Azerbaijani). Engraving from book of Jean Baptiste Benoît Eyriès. Voyage pittoresque en Asie et en Afrique: résumé général des voyages anciens et modernes... T. I, 1839
TheSafavids, who rose from aroundArdabil in Iranian Azerbaijan and lasted until 1722, established the foundations of the modern Iranian state.[91] The Safavids, alongside theirOttoman archrivals, dominated the entire West Asian region and beyond for centuries. At its peak underShah Abbas the Great, it rivaled its political and ideological archrival theOttoman Empire in military strength. Noted for achievements in state-building, architecture, and the sciences, the Safavid state crumbled due to internal decay (mostly royal intrigues), ethnic minority uprisings and external pressures from theRussians, and the eventually opportunisticAfghans, who would mark the end of the dynasty. The Safavids encouraged and spread Shi'a Islam, as well as the arts and culture, and ShahAbbas the Great created an intellectual atmosphere that according to some scholars was a new "golden age".[92] He reformed the government and the military and responded to the needs of the common people.[92]
After the Safavid state disintegrated, it was followed by the conquest byNader Shah Afshar, a Shia chieftain fromKhorasan who reduced the power of the ghulat Shi'a and empowered a moderate form of Shi'ism,[89]: 300 and, exceptionally noted for his military genius, making Iran reach its greatest extent since theSassanid Empire. The brief reign ofKarim Khan came next, followed by theQajars, who ruled what is the present-day Azerbaijan Republic and Iran from 1779.[2]: 106 Russia loomed as a threat to Persian and Turkish holdings in the Caucasus in this period. TheRusso-Persian Wars, despite already having had minor military conflicts in the 17th century, officially began in the eighteenth century and ended in the early nineteenth century with theTreaty of Gulistan of 1813 and theTreaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, which ceded the Caucasian portion of Qajar Iran to theRussian Empire.[57]: 17 While Azerbaijanis in Iran integrated into Iranian society, Azerbaijanis who used to live in Aran, were incorporated into the Russian Empire.
Despite the Russian conquest, throughout the entire 19th century, preoccupation withIranian culture,literature, and language remained widespread amongst Shia and Sunni intellectuals in the Russian-held cities ofBaku,Ganja and Tiflis (Tbilisi, now Georgia).[93] Within the same century, in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia, anAzerbaijani national identity emerged at the end of the 19th century.[94] In 1891, the idea of recognizing oneself as an "Azerbaijani Turk" was first popularized amongst the Caucasus Tatars in the periodicalKashkül.[95] The articles printed inKaspiy andKashkül in 1891 are typically credited as being the earliest expressions of a cultural Azerbaijani identity.[96]
Modernisation—compared to the neighboringArmenians andGeorgians—was slow to develop amongst the Tatars of the Russian Caucasus. According to the 1897Russian Empire census, less than five percent of the Tatars were able to read or write. The intellectual and newspaper editorAli bey Huseynzade (1864–1940) led a campaign to 'Turkify, Islamise, modernise' the Caucasian Tatars, whereasMammed Said Ordubadi (1872–1950), another journalist and activist, criticized superstition amongst Muslims.[97]
By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia would attack the much-needed Baku.Vladimir Lenin said that the invasion was justified asSoviet Russia could not survive without Baku'soil.[109][110] Independent Azerbaijan lasted only 23 months until theBolshevik11th Soviet Red Army invaded it, establishing theAzerbaijan SSR on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out inKarabakh, Azeris did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 Azerbaijani soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest.[111]
The brief independence gained by the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918–1920 was followed by over 70 years ofSoviet rule.[112]: 91 Neverthelesss, it was in the early Soviet period that the Azerbaijani national identity was forged.[94] After the restoration of independence in October 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan became embroiled in a war with neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.[112]: 97
TheFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War resulted in the displacement of approximately 725,000 Azerbaijanis and 300,000–500,000 Armenians from both Azerbaijan and Armenia.[113] As a result of the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Azerbaijan took control of 5 cities, 4 towns, 286 villages in the region.[114] According to the2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, internally displaced persons and refugees shall return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[115]
In Iran, Azerbaijanis such asSattar Khan sought constitutional reform.[116] ThePersian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–11 shook the Qajar dynasty. A parliament (Majlis) was founded on the efforts of the constitutionalists, and pro-democracy newspapers appeared. The last Shah of the Qajar dynasty was soon removed in a military coup led byReza Khan. In the quest to impose national homogeneity on a country where half of the population were ethnic minorities, Reza Shah banned in quick succession the use of the Azerbaijani language in schools, theatrical performances, religious ceremonies, and books.[117]
Upon the dethronement of Reza Shah in September 1941, Soviet forcestook control ofIranian Azerbaijan and helped to set up theAzerbaijan People's Government, aclient state under the leadership ofSayyid Jafar Pishevari backed bySoviet Azerbaijan. The Soviet military presence in Iranian Azerbaijan was mainly aimed at securing theAllied supply route duringWorld War II. Concerned with the continued Soviet presence afterWorld War II, the United States and Britain pressured the Soviets to withdraw bylate 1946. Immediately thereafter, the Iranian government regained control ofIranian Azerbaijan. According to Professor Gary R. Hess, local Azerbaijanis favored the Iranian rule, while the Soviets forewent the Iranian Azerbaijan due to the exaggerated sentiment for autonomy and oil being their top priority.[118]
In many references, Azerbaijanis are designated as aTurkic people,[45][119] while some sources describe the origin of Azerbaijanis as "unclear",[120] mainly Caucasian,[121] mainly Iranian,[122][123] mixedCaucasian Albanian and Turkish,[124] and mixed with Caucasian, Iranian, and Turkic elements.[125] Russian historian and orientalistVladimir Minorsky writes that largely Iranian and Caucasian populations became Turkic-speaking following the Oghuz occupation of the region, though the characteristic features of the local Turkic language, such as Persian intonations and disregard of the vocalic harmony, were a remnant of the non-Turkic population.[126]
Historical research suggests that theOld Azeri language, belonging to the Northwestern branch of the Iranian languages and believed to have descended from the language of the Medes,[127] gradually gained currency and was widely spoken in said region for many centuries.[128][129][130][131][132]
Some Azerbaijanis of the Republic of Azerbaijan are believed to be descended from the inhabitants ofCaucasian Albania, an ancient country located in the easternCaucasus region, and various Iranian peoples which settled the region.[133] They claim there is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, the aboriginal Caucasian population may have gradually been culturally and linguistically assimilated, first by Iranian peoples, such as thePersians,[134] and later by theOghuz Turks. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians, includingtheir language, history, early conversion toChristianity, and relations with theArmenians andGeorgians, under whose strong religious and cultural influence the Caucasian Albanians came in the coming centuries.[135][136]
Turkification of the non-Turkic population derives from the Turkic settlements in the area now known as Azerbaijan, which began and accelerated during theSeljuk period.[45] The migration of Oghuz Turks from present-dayTurkmenistan, which is attested by linguistic similarity, remained high through the Mongol period, as many troops under theIlkhanids were Turkic. By theSafavid period, the Turkic nature of Azerbaijan increased with the influence of theQizilbash, an association of theTurkoman[137] nomadic tribes that was the backbone of the Safavid Empire.
According to Soviet scholars, the Turkicization of Azerbaijan was largely completed during the Ilkhanid period. Faruk Sümer posits three periods in which Turkicization took place: Seljuk, Mongol and Post-Mongol (Qara Qoyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu and Safavid). In the first two, Oghuz Turkic tribes advanced or were driven to Anatolia and Arran. In the last period, the Turkic elements in Iran (Oghuz, with lesser admixtures of Uyghur, Qipchaq, Qarluq as well as Turkicized Mongols) were joined now by Anatolian Turks migrating back to Iran. This marked the final stage of Turkicization.[45]
10th-century Arab historianAl-Masudi attested theOld Azeri language and described that the region ofAzerbaijan was inhabited byPersians.[138] Archaeological evidence indicates that the Iranian religion ofZoroastrianism was prominent throughout the Caucasus before Christianity and Islam.[139][140][141] According toEncyclopaedia Iranica, Azerbaijanis mainly originate from the earlier Iranian speakers, who still exist to this day in smaller numbers, and a massive migration of Oghuz Turks in the 11th and 12th centuries gradually Turkified Azerbaijan as well as Anatolia.[142]
Caucasian origin
Azerbaijani girl fromShusha in silk national garments
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Azerbaijanis are of mixed descent, originating in the indigenous population of eastern Transcaucasia and possibly the Medians from northern Iran.[143] There is evidence that, due to repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginalCaucasians may have been culturally assimilated, first byAncient Iranian peoples and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion toChristianity. TheUdi language, still spoken in Azerbaijan, may be a remnant of the Albanians' language.[144]
Contemporary Western Asian genomes, a region that includes Azerbaijan, have been greatly influenced by early agricultural populations in the area; later population movements, such as those of Turkic speakers, also contributed.[145] However, as of 2017, there is nowhole genome sequencing study for Azerbaijan; sampling limitations such as these prevent forming a "finer-scale picture of the genetic history of the region".[145]
A 2014 study comparing the genetics of the populations from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, (which were grouped as "WesternSilk Road") Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan (grouped as "Eastern Silk Road") found that the samples from Azerbaijan were the only group from the Western Silk Road to show significant contribution from the Eastern Silk Road, despite the overall clustering with the other samples from the Western Silk Road. The eastern input into the Azerbaijani genetics was estimated to be roughly 25 generations ago, corresponding to the time of theMongolian expansion.[146]
A 2002 study focusing on eleven Y-chromosome markers suggested that Azerbaijanis are genetically more related to their Caucasian geographic neighbors than to their linguistic neighbors.[147] Iranian Azerbaijanis are genetically more similar to northern Azerbaijanis and the neighboring Turkic population than they are to geographically distant Turkmen populations.[148] Iranian-speaking populations from Azerbaijan (theTalysh andTats) are genetically closer to Azerbaijanis of the Republic than to other Iranian-speaking populations (Persian people andKurds from Iran,Ossetians, andTajiks).[149] Several genetic studies suggested that the Azerbaijanis originate from a native population long resident in the area who adopted a Turkic language throughlanguage replacement, including possibility of elite dominance scenario.[150][151][147] However, the language replacement in Azerbaijan (and in Turkey) might not have been in accordance with the elite dominance model, with estimated Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan being 18% for females and 32% for males.[152] A subsequent study also suggested 33% Central Asian contribution to Azerbaijan.[153]
A 2001 study which looked into the firsthypervariable segment of theMtDNA suggested that "genetic relationships among Caucasus populations reflect geographical rather than linguistic relationships", with Armenians and Azerbaijanians being "most closely related to their nearest geographical neighbours".[154] Another 2004 study that looked into 910MtDNAs from 23 populations in the Iranian plateau, the Indus Valley, and Central Asia suggested that populations "west of the Indus basin, including those from Iran, Anatolia [Turkey] and the Caucasus, exhibit a common mtDNA lineage composition, consisting mainly of western Eurasian lineages, with a very limited contribution from South Asia and eastern Eurasia".[155] While genetic analysis of mtDNA indicates that Caucasian populations are genetically closer to Europeans than to Near Easterners, Y-chromosome results indicate closer affinity to Near Eastern groups.[147]
The range of haplogroups across the region may reflect historical genetic admixture,[156] perhaps as a result of invasive male migrations.[147]
In a comparative study (2013) on the complete mitochondrial DNA diversity in Iranians has indicated that Iranian Azeris are more related to the people ofGeorgia, than they are to otherIranians, as well as toArmenians. However the samemultidimensional scaling plot shows that Azeris from the Caucasus, despite their supposed common origin with Iranian Azeris, "occupy an intermediate position between the Azeris/Georgians and Turks/Iranians grouping".[157]
A 2007 study which looked into class twoHuman leukocyte antigen suggested that there were "no close genetic relationship was observed between Azeris of Iran and the people of Turkey or Central Asians".[158] A 2017 study which looked intoHLAalleles put the samples from Azeris in Northwest Iran "in the Mediterranean cluster close to Kurds, Gorgan, Chuvash (South Russia, towards North Caucasus), Iranians and Caucasus populations (Svan and Georgians)". This Mediterranean stock includes "Turkish and Caucasian populations". Azeri samples were also in a "position between Mediterranean and Central Asian" samples, suggesting Turkification "process caused by Oghuz Turkic tribes could also contribute to the genetic background of Azeri people".[159] In a 2019 study examining genome-wide data from selected populations in North Africa and West Eurasia, Azeris were grouped withBalkars,Circassians,Georgians,Lezgins, andTurkish people.[160]
The vast majority of Azerbaijanis live in the Republic of Azerbaijan andIranian Azerbaijan. Between 12 and 23 million Azerbaijanis live in Iran,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] mainly in the northwestern provinces. Approximately 9.1 million Azerbaijanis are found in the Republic of Azerbaijan. A diaspora of over a million is spread throughout the rest of the world. According toEthnologue, there are over 1 million speakers of the northern Azerbaijani dialect in southernDagestan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian proper, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.[161] No Azerbaijanis were recorded in the 2001 census in Armenia,[162] where theNagorno-Karabakh conflict resulted in population shifts. Other sources, such as national censuses, confirm the presence of Azerbaijanis throughout the other states of the formerSoviet Union.
Azerbaijanis are by far the largest ethnic group in The Republic of Azerbaijan (over 90%), holding the second-largest community of ethnic Azerbaijanis after neighboring Iran. The literacy rate is very high, and is estimated at 99.5%.[163] Azerbaijan began the twentieth century with institutions based upon those of Russia and the Soviet Union, with an official policy of atheism and strict state control over most aspects of society. Since independence, there is a secular system.
Azerbaijan has benefited from the oil industry, but high levels of corruption have prevented greater prosperity for the population.[164] Despite these problems, there is a financial rebirth in Azerbaijan as positive economic predictions and an active political opposition appear determined to improve the lives of average Azerbaijanis.[165][166]
The exact number of Azerbaijanis in Iran is heavily disputed. Since the early twentieth century, successive Iranian governments have avoided publishing statistics on ethnic groups.[167] Unofficial population estimates of Azerbaijanis in Iran are around the 16% area put forth by the CIA and Library of Congress.[168][169] An independent poll in 2009 placed the figure at around 20–22%.[170] According to theIranologist Victoria Arakelova in peer-reviewed journalIran and the Caucasus, estimating the number of Azeris in Iran has been hampered for years since thedissolution of the Soviet Union, when the "once invented theory of the so called separated nation (i.e. the citizens of the Azerbaijan Republic, the so-called Azerbaijanis, and the Azaris in Iran), was actualised again (see in detail Reza 1993)". Arakelova adds that the number of Azeris in Iran, featuring in the politically biased publications as "Azerbaijani minority of Iran", is considered to be the "highly speculative part of this theory". Even though all Iranian censuses of population distinguish exclusively religious minorities, numerous sources have presented different figures regarding Iran's Turkic-speaking communities, without "any justification or concrete references".[171]
In the early 1990s, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most popular figure depicting the number of "Azerbaijanis" in Iran was thirty-three million, at a time when the entire population of Iran was barely sixty million. Therefore, at the time, half of Iran's citizens were considered "Azerbaijanis". Shortly after, this figure was replaced by thirty million, which became "almost a normative account on the demographic situation in Iran, widely circulating not only among academics and political analysts, but also in the official circles of Russia and the West". Then, in the 2000s, the figure decreased to 20 million; this time, at least within the Russian political establishment, the figure became "firmly fixed". This figure, Arakelova adds, has been widely used and kept up to date, only with a few minor adjustments. A cursory look at Iran's demographic situation however, shows that all these figures have been manipulated and were "definitely invented on political purpose". Arakelova estimates the number of Azeris i.e. "Azerbaijanis" in Iran based on Iran's population demographics at 6 to 6.5 million.[171]
Azerbaijanis in Iran are mainly found in the northwest provinces:West Azerbaijan,East Azerbaijan,Ardabil,Zanjan, parts ofHamadan,Qazvin, andMarkazi.[169] Azerbaijani minorities live in theQorveh[172] andBijar[173] counties ofKurdistan, inGilan,[174][175][176][177] asethnic enclaves inGalugah inMazandaran, aroundLotfabad andDargaz inRazavi Khorasan,[178] and in the town ofGonbad-e Qabus inGolestan.[179] Large Azerbaijani populations can also be found in central Iran (Tehran andAlborz) due to internal migration. Azerbaijanis make up 25%[180] ofTehran's population and 30.3%[181] – 33%[182][183] of the population of theTehran Province, where Azerbaijanis are found in every city.[184] They are the largest ethnic groups afterPersians in Tehran and the Tehran Province.[185][186] Arakelova notes that the widespread "cliché" among residents of Tehran on the number of Azerbaijanis in the city ("half of Tehran consists of Azerbaijanis"), cannot be taken "seriously into consideration". Arakelova adds that the number of Tehran's inhabitants who have migrated from northwestern areas of Iran, who are currently Persian-speakers "for the most part", is not more than "several hundred thousands", with the maximum being one million.[171] Azerbaijanis have also emigrated and resettled in large numbers inKhorasan,[187] especially inMashhad.[188]
Generally, Azerbaijanis in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior toIran's Islamic Revolution.[189][190] Despite friction, Azerbaijanis in Iran came to be well represented at all levels of "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as the religious hierarchy".[167]
Resentment came with Pahlavi policies that suppressed the use of theAzerbaijani language in local government, schools, and the press.[191] However, with the advent of theIranian Revolution in 1979, emphasis shifted away from nationalism as the new government highlighted religion as the main unifying factor. Islamictheocratic institutions dominate nearly all aspects of society. The Azerbaijani language and its literature are banned in Iranian schools.[192][193] There are signs of civil unrest due to the policies of the Iranian government in Iranian Azerbaijan and increased interaction with fellow Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan and satellite broadcasts from Turkey and other Turkic countries have revived Azerbaijani nationalism.[194] In May 2006, Iranian Azerbaijan witnessed riots over publication of acartoon depicting a cockroach speaking Azerbaijani[195] that many Azerbaijanis found offensive.[196][197] The cartoon was drawn byMana Neyestani, an Azeri, who was fired along with his editor as a result of the controversy.[198][199] One of the major incidents that happened recently wasAzeris protests in Iran (2015) started in November 2015, after children's television programmeFitileha aired on 6 November on state TV that ridiculed and mocked the accent and language of Azeris and included offensive jokes.[200] As a result, ethnic Azeris protested a program on state TV that contained what they consider an ethnic slur. The head of the country's state broadcasterIslamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Mohammad Sarafraz has apologized for airing the program, whose broadcast was later discontinued.[201]
Azerbaijanis are an intrinsic community of Iran, and their style of living closely resemble those ofPersians:
The lifestyles of urban Azerbaijanis do not differ from those of Persians, and there is considerable intermarriage among the upper classes in cities of mixed populations. Similarly, customs among Azerbaijani villagers do not appear to differ markedly from those of Persian villagers.[169]
Azeris are famously active in commerce and in bazaars all over Iran their voluble voices can be heard. Older Azeri men wear the traditional wool hat, and their music & dances have become part of the mainstream culture. Azeris are well integrated, and many Azeri-Iranians are prominent inPersian literature, politics, and clerical world.[202]
There is significant cross-border trade between Azerbaijan and Iran, and Azerbaijanis from Azerbaijan go into Iran to buy goods that are cheaper, but the relationship was tense until recently.[192] However,relations have significantly improved since theRouhani administration took office.
Subgroups
There are at least ten Azerbaijani ethnic groups, each of which has particularities in the economy, culture, and everyday life. Some Azerbaijani ethnic groups continued in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Ayrum from Azerbaijan (left); Shahsevan girls from a rich family. End of the 19th century, Iran (right).
In Azerbaijan, women were granted the right to vote in 1917.[204] Women have attained Western-style equality in major cities such asBaku, although in rural areas more reactionary views remain.[165] Violence against women, including rape, is rarely reported, especially in rural areas, not unlike other parts of the former Soviet Union.[205] In Azerbaijan, the veil was abandoned during the Soviet period.[206] Women are under-represented in elective office but have attained high positions in parliament. An Azerbaijani woman is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Azerbaijan, and two others are Justices of the Constitutional Court. In the 2010 election, women constituted 16% of all MPs (twenty seats in total) in theNational Assembly of Azerbaijan.[207]Abortion is available on demand in the Republic of Azerbaijan.[208]Elmira Süleymanova, who served as human rightsombudsman from 2002 to 2019, was a woman.[209]
In Iran, a groundswell of grassroots movements have sought gender equality since the 1980s.[169] Protests in defiance of government bans are dispersed through violence, as on 12 June 2006 when female demonstrators in Haft Tir Square in Tehran were beaten.[210] Past Iranian leaders, such as the reformer ex-presidentMohammad Khatami promised women greater rights, but theGuardian Council of Iran opposes changes that they interpret as contrary to Islamic doctrine. In the 2004 legislative elections, nine women were elected to parliament (Majlis), eight of whom were conservatives.[211] The social fate of Azerbaijani women largely mirrors that of other women in Iran.[citation needed]
The Azerbaijanis speak theAzerbaijani language, aTurkic language descended from the branches of Oghuz Turkic language that became established in Azerbaijan in the 11th and 12th centuries CE. TheAzerbaijani language is closely related toQashqai,Gagauz,Turkish,Turkmen andCrimean Tatar, sharing varying degrees ofmutual intelligibility with each of those languages.[213] Certain lexical and grammatical differences formed within the Azerbaijani language as spoken in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran, after nearly two centuries of separation between the communities speaking the language;mutual intelligibility, however, has been preserved.[214] Additionally, the Turkish and Azerbaijani languages are mutually intelligible to a high enough degree that their speakers can have simple conversations without prior knowledge of the other.[112]
Early literature was mainly based on oral tradition, and the later compiled epics and heroic stories ofDede Korkut probably derive from it. The first written, classical Azerbaijani literature arose after the Mongol invasion, while the first accepted Oghuz Turkic text goes back to the 15th century.[215] Some of the earliest Azerbaijani writings trace back to the poetNasimi (died 1417) and then decades laterFuzûlî (1483–1556).Ismail I, Shah ofSafavid Iran wrote Azerbaijani poetry under the pen nameKhatâ'i.
Modern Azerbaijani literature continued with a traditional emphasis uponhumanism, as conveyed in the writings ofSamad Vurgun,Shahriar, and many others.[216]
Azerbaijanis are generally bilingual, often fluent in either Russian (in Azerbaijan) orPersian (in Iran) in addition to their native Azerbaijani. As of 1996, around 38% of Azerbaijan's roughly 8,000,000 population spoke Russian fluently.[217] An independent telephone survey in Iran in 2009 reported that 20% of respondents could understand Azerbaijani, the most spoken minority language in Iran, and all respondents could understand Persian.[170]
The majority of Azerbaijanis areTwelverShi'a Muslims. Religious minorities includeSunni Muslims (mainlyShafi'i just like other Muslims in the surrounding North Caucasus),[218][219] andBaháʼís. An unknown number of Azerbaijanis in the Republic of Azerbaijan have no religious affiliation. Many describe themselves as Shia Muslims.[165] There is a small number ofNaqshbandiSufis among Muslim Azerbaijanis.[220] Christian Azerbaijanis number around 5,000 people in the Republic of Azerbaijan and consist mostly of recent converts.[221][222] Some Azerbaijanis from rural regions retain pre-Islamicanimist orZoroastrian-influenced[223] beliefs, such as the sanctity of certain sites and the veneration of fire, certain trees and rocks.[224] In Azerbaijan, traditions from other religions are often celebrated in addition toIslamic holidays, includingNowruz andChristmas.
In the group dance the performers come together in a semi-circular or circular formation as, "The leader of these dances often executes special figures as well as signaling and changes in the foot patterns, movements, or direction in which the group is moving, often by gesturing with his or her hand, in which a kerchief is held."[225]
Azerbaijani musical tradition can be traced back to singingbards calledAshiqs, a vocation that survives. Modern Ashiqs play thesaz (lute) and singdastans (historicalballads).[226] Other musical instruments include thetar (another type of lute),balaban (a wind instrument),kamancha (fiddle), and thedhol (drums). Azerbaijani classical music, calledmugham, is often an emotional singing performance. ComposersUzeyir Hajibeyov,Gara Garayev andFikret Amirov created a hybrid style that combines Westernclassical music withmugham. Other Azerbaijanis, notablyVagif andAziza Mustafa Zadeh, mixedjazz withmugham. Some Azerbaijani musicians have received international acclaim, includingRashid Behbudov (who could sing in over eight languages),Muslim Magomayev (a pop star from the Soviet era),Googoosh, and more recentlySami Yusuf.[citation needed]
After the1979 revolution in Iran due to the clerical opposition to music in general, Azerbaijani music took a different course. According to Iranian singerHossein Alizadeh, "Historically in Iran, music faced strong opposition from the religious establishment, forcing it to go underground."[227]
Taekwondo is also a sport in which Azerbaijani athletes showcase great results. It is one of the most popular sports in Azerbaijan, which attracts many Azerbaijani viewers every year. National Taekwondo Federation was founded in 1992, and every since produced many notable medal winners.[231]Gashim Magomedov is among many Azerbaijani taekwondo practitioners. He won the silver medal at the2024 Summer Olympics in Paris despite a reported injury in the finals match.Vice President of the Republic of AzerbaijanMehriban Aliyeva congratulated the athlete on his win.[232]
Chess is another popular pastime in the Republic of Azerbaijan.[233] The country has produced many notable players, such asTeimour Radjabov,Vugar Gashimov andShahriyar Mammadyarov, all three highly ranked internationally. Karate is also popular, whereRafael Aghayev achieved particular success, becoming a five-time world champion and eleven-time European champion.
^abcdefghSwietochowski & Collins (1999, p. 165): Today, Iranian Azerbaijan has a solid majority of Azeris with an estimated population of at least 15 million (over twice the population of the Azerbaijani Republic). (1999)
^ab"Iran".Ethnologue.Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved26 October 2018.Ethnic population: 16,700,000 (2019)
^abElling, Rasmus Christian (18 February 2013).Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini. Springer. p. 28.ISBN978-1-137-04780-9.CIA and Library of Congress estimates range from 16 percent to 24 percent—that is, 12–18 million people if we employ the latest total figure for Iran's population (77.8 million).
^abGheissari, Ali (2 April 2009).Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 300.ISBN978-0-19-988860-3.As of 2003, the ethnic classifications are estimated as: [...] Azeri (24 percent)
^abBani-Shoraka, Helena (1 July 2009). "Cross-generational bilingual strategies among Azerbaijanis in Tehran".International Journal of the Sociology of Language (198): 106.doi:10.1515/IJSL.2009.029.ISSN1613-3668.S2CID144993160.The latest figures estimate the Azerbaijani population at 24% of Iran's 70 million inhabitants (NVI 2003/2004: 301). This means that there are between 15 and 20 million Azerbaijanis in Iran.
^abMoaddel, Mansoor; Karabenick, Stuart A. (4 June 2013).Religious Fundamentalism in the Middle East: A Cross-National, Inter-Faith, and Inter-Ethnic Analysis. Brill. p. 101.The Azeris have a mixed heritage of Iranic, Caucasian, and Turkic elements(...) Between 16 to 23 million Azeris live in Iran.
^abEschment, Beate; von Löwis, Sabine, eds. (18 August 2022).Post-Soviet Borders: A Kaleidoscope of Shifting Lives and Lands. Taylor & Francis. p. 31.Irrespective of the large Azerbaijani population in Iran (about 20 million, compared to 7 million in Azerbaijan)(...)
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^Ismail Zardabli.Ethnic and political history of Azerbaijan. Rossendale Books. 2018. p.35 "... the ancestors of Azerbaijanis and Turkmens are the tribes that lived in these territories."
^Harcave, Sidney (1968).Russia: A History: Sixth Edition. Lippincott. p. 267.
^Mojtahed-Zadeh, Pirouz (2007).Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran: A Study of the Origin, Evolution, and Implications of the Boundaries of Modern Iran with Its 15 Neighbors in the Middle East by a Number of Renowned Experts in the Field. Universal. p. 372.ISBN978-1-58112-933-5.
^Tsutsiev, Arthur. "18. 1886–1890: An Ethnolinguistic Map of the Caucasus". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 48–50. ""Tatars" (or in rarer cases, "Azerbaijani Tatars") to denote Turkic-speaking Transcaucasian populations that would later be called "Azerbaijanis""
^abYilmaz, Harun (2013). "The Soviet Union and the Construction of Azerbaijani National Identity in the 1930s".Iranian Studies.46 (4): 513.doi:10.1080/00210862.2013.784521.ISSN0021-0862.S2CID144322861.The official records of the Russian Empire and various published sources from the pre-1917 period also called them "Tatar" or "Caucasian Tatars," "Azerbaijani Tatars" and even "Persian Tatars" in order to differentiate them from the other "Tatars" of the empire and the Persian speakers of Iran.
^Тюрки.Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1890–1907.Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved29 January 2012.
^Тюрко-татары.Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1890–1907.Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved29 January 2012.
^Deniker, Joseph (1900).Races et peuples de la terre (in French). Paris, France: Schleicher frères. p. 349.Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved25 April 2016.Ce groupement ne coïncide pas non-plus avec le groupement somatologique : ainsi, les Aderbaïdjani du Caucase et de la Perse, parlant une langue turque, ont le mème type physique que les Persans-Hadjemi, parlant une langue iranienne.
^Tsutsiev, Arthur. "Appendix 3: Ethnic Composition of the Caucasus: Historical Population Statistics". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, p. 192 (note 150).
^abTsutsiev, Arthur. "31. 1926: An Ethnic Map Reflecting the First Soviet Census". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, p. 87.
^Tsutsiev, Arthur. "26. 1920: The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Soviet Russia". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 71–73.
^Tsutsiev, Arthur. "32. 1926: Using the Census to Identify Russians and Ukrainians". Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, pp. 87–90
^Bosworth, C. E. (12 August 2011)."Arran". Encyclopædia Iranica.Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved25 January 2012.
^Roy, Olivier (2007).The new Central Asia. I.B. Tauris. p. 6.ISBN978-1-84511-552-4.Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved8 May 2020.The mass of the Oghuz who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left the Iranian plateau, which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter was to keep the name 'Turkmen' for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they 'Turkified' the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Turkish. These are the people today known as Azeris.
^abSammis, Kathy (2002).Focus on World History: The First Global Age and the Age of Revolution. J. Weston Walch. p. 39.ISBN978-0-8251-4370-0.
^Gasimov, Zaur (2022). "Observing Iran from Baku: Iranian Studies in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan".Iranian Studies.55 (1): 38.doi:10.1080/00210862.2020.1865136.S2CID233889871.The preoccupation with Iranian culture, literature, and language was widespread among Baku-, Ganja-, and Tiflis-based Shia as well as Sunni intellectuals, and it never ceased throughout the nineteenth century.
^abGasimov, Zaur (2022). "Observing Iran from Baku: Iranian Studies in Soviet and Post-Soviet Azerbaijan".Iranian Studies.55 (1): 37.doi:10.1080/00210862.2020.1865136.S2CID233889871.Azerbaijani national identity emerged in post-Persian Russian-ruled East Caucasia at the end of the nineteenth century, and was finally forged during the early Soviet period.
^Bishku, Michael B. (2022). "The Status and Limits to Aspirations of Minorities in the South Caucasus States".Contemporary Review of the Middle East.9 (4): 414.doi:10.1177/23477989221115917.S2CID251777404.
^Broers, Laurence (2019).Armenia and Azerbaijan: Anatomy of a Rivalry. Edinburgh University Press. p. 326 (note 9).ISBN978-1-4744-5052-2.
^Pourjavady, R. (2023). "Introduction: Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the 19th century". In Thomas, David; Chesworth, John A. (eds.).Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 20. Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucasus (1800–1914). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. p. 20.
^abRussia and a Divided Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition, by Tadeusz Świętochowski, Columbia University Press, 1995, p. 66
^Smith, Michael (April 2001). "Anatomy of Rumor: Murder Scandal, the Musavat Party and Narrative of the Russian Revolution in Baku, 1917–1920".Journal of Contemporary History.36 (2): 228.doi:10.1177/002200940103600202.S2CID159744435.The results of the March events were immediate and total for the Musavat. Several hundreds of its members were killed in the fighting; up to 12,000 Muslim civilians perished; thousands of others fled Baku in a mass exodus
^Yilmaz, Harun (2015).National Identities in Soviet Historiography: The Rise of Nations Under Stalin. Routledge. p. 21.ISBN978-1-317-59664-6.On May 27, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA) was declared with Ottoman military support. The rulers of the DRA refused to identify themselves as [Transcaucasian] Tatar, which they rightfully considered to be a Russian colonial definition. (...) Neighboring Iran did not welcome the DRA's adoption of the name of "Azerbaijan" for the country because it could also refer to Iranian Azerbaijan and implied a territorial claim.
^Barthold, Vasily (1963).Sochineniya, vol II/1. Moscow. p. 706.(...) whenever it is necessary to choose a name that will encompass all regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, nameArran can be chosen. But the term Azerbaijan was chosen because when the Azerbaijan republic was created, it was assumed that this and thePersian Azerbaijan will be one entity because the population of both has a big similarity. On this basis, the word Azerbaijan was chosen. Of course right now when the word Azerbaijan is used, it has two meanings as Persian Azerbaijan and as a republic, its confusing and a question arises as to which Azerbaijan is talked about.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Atabaki, Touraj (2000).Azerbaijan: Ethnicity and the Struggle for Power in Iran. I.B.Tauris. p. 25.ISBN978-1-86064-554-9.
^Rezvani, Babak (2014).Ethno-territorial conflict and coexistence in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Fereydan: academisch proefschrift. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. p. 356.ISBN978-90-485-1928-6.The region to the north of the river Araxes was not called Azerbaijan prior to 1918, unlike the region in northwestern Iran that has been called since so long ago.
^Schulze, Reinhard (2000).A Modern History of the Islamic World. I.B. Tauris.ISBN978-1-86064-822-9.
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^Anna Matveeva (2002).The South Caucasus:Nationalism, Conflict and Minorities(PDF) (Report). Minority Rights Group International. Retrieved11 March 2021.The ethnic origins of the Azeris are unclear. The prevailing view is that Azeris are a Turkic people, but there is also a claim that Azeris are Turkicized Caucasians or, as the Iranian official history claims, Turkicized Aryans.
^Roy, Olivier (2007). The new Central Asia. I.B. Tauris. p. 6.ISBN978-1-84511-552-4. "The mass of the Oghuz who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left the Iranian plateaux, which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter was to keep the name 'Turkmen' for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they 'Turkified' the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Turkish. These are the people today known as Azeris."
^Suny, Ronald G. (July–August 1988). "What Happened in Soviet Armenia?".Middle East Report (153, Islam and the State):37–40.doi:10.2307/3012134.JSTOR3012134. "The Albanians in the eastern plain leading down to the Caspian Sea mixed with the Turkish population and eventually became Muslims." "...while the eastern Transcaucasian countryside was home to a very large Turkic-speaking Muslim population. The Russians referred to them as Tartars, but we now consider them Azerbaijanis, a distinct people with their own language and culture."
^Svante E. Cornell (20 May 2015).Azerbaijan Since Independence. Routledge. pp. 5–7.ISBN978-1-317-47621-4.Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved15 December 2015. "If native Caucasian, Iranian, and Turkic populations – among others – dominated Azerbaijan from the fourth century CE onwards, the Turkic element would grow increasingly dominant in linguistic terms,5 while the Persian element retained strong cultural and religious influence." "Following the Seljuk great power period, the Turkic element in Azerbaijan was further strengthened by migrations during the Mongol onslaught of the thirteenth century and the subsequent domination by the Turkmen Qaraqoyunlu and Aq-qoyunlu dynasties."
^Minorsky, V. "Azarbaijan". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.).Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill.
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^Roy, Olivier (2007).The new Central Asia. I.B. Tauris. p. 6.ISBN978-1-84511-552-4.Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved8 May 2020.The mass of the Oghuz who crossed the Amu Darya towards the west left theIranian plateau, which remained Persian, and established themselves more to the west, in Anatolia. Here they divided into Ottomans, who were Sunni and settled, and Turkmens, who were nomads and in part Shiite (or, rather, Alevi). The latter were to keep the name 'Turkmen' for a long time: from the 13th century onwards they 'Turkised' the Iranian populations of Azerbaijan (who spoke west Iranian languages such as Tat, which is still found in residual forms), thus creating a new identity based on Shiism and the use of Turkish. These are the people today known as Azeris.
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^Istorii︠a︡ Vostoka: v shesti tomakh. Rybakov, R. B., Kapit︠s︡a, Mikhail Stepanovich., Рыбаков, Р. Б., Капица, Михаил Степанович., Institut vostokovedenii︠a︡ (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk), Институт востоковедения (Rossiĭskai︠a︡ akademii︠a︡ nauk). Moskva: Izdatelʹskai︠a︡ firma "Vostochnai︠a︡ lit-ra" RAN. 1995–2008.ISBN5-02-018102-1.OCLC38520460.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Weitenberg, J.J.S. (1984). "Thomas J. SAMUELIAN (ed.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity. Proceedings of the first Dr. H. Markarian Conference on Armenian culture (University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies 4), Scholars Press, Chico, CA 1982, xii and 233 pp., paper $ 15,75 (members $ 10,50), cloth $ 23,50 (members $ 15,75)".Journal for the Study of Judaism.15 (1–2):198–199.doi:10.1163/157006384x00411.ISSN0047-2212.
^David Blow. Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. p. 165. "The primary court language remained Turkish. But it was not the Turkish of Istambul. It was a Turkish dialect, the dialect of theQizilbash Turkomans..."
^Al Mas'udi (1894). De Goeje, M.J. (ed.).Kitab al-Tanbih wa-l-Ishraf (in Arabic). Brill. pp. 77–78. Arabic text: "قد قدمنا فيما سلف من كتبنا ما قاله الناس في بدء النسل، وتفرقهم على وجه الأرض، وما ذهب إليه كل فريق منهم في ذلك من الشرعيين وغيرهم ممن قال بحدوث العالم وأبى الانقياد إلى الشرائع من البراهمة وغيرهم، وما قاله أصحاب القدم في ذلك من الهند والفلاسفة وأصحاب الاثنين من المانوية وغيرهم على تباينهم في ذلك، فلنذكر الآن الأمم السبع ذهب من عني بأخبار سوالف الأمم ومساكنهم إلى أن أجل الأمم وعظماءهم كانوا في سوالف الدهر سبعاً يتميزون بثلاثة أشياء: بشيمهم الطبيعية، وخلقهم الطبيعية، وألسنتهم فالفرس أمة حد بلادها الجبال من الماهات وغيرها وآذربيجان إلى ما يلي بلاد أرمينية وأران والبيلقان إلى دربند وهو الباب والأبواب والري وطبرستن والمسقط والشابران وجرجان وابرشهر، وهي نيسابور، وهراة ومرو وغير ذلك من بلاد خراسان وسجستان وكرمان وفارس والأهواز، وما اتصل بذلك من أرض الأعاجم في هذا الوقت وكل هذه البلاد كانت مملكة واحدة ملكها ملك واحد ولسانها واحد، إلا أنهم كانوا يتباينون في شيء يسير من اللغات."
^Asadova, P. S.; et al. (2003). "Genetic Structure of Iranian-Speaking Populations from Azerbaijan Inferred from the Frequencies of Immunological and Biochemical Gene Markers".Russian Journal of Genetics.39 (11):1334–1342.doi:10.1023/B:RUGE.0000004149.62114.92.S2CID40679768.
^Yunusbayev, Bayazit; Metspalu, Mait; Metspalu, Ene; Valeev, Albert; Litvinov, Sergei; Valiev, Ruslan; Akhmetova, Vita; Balanovska, Elena; Balanovsky, Oleg; Turdikulova, Shahlo; Dalimova, Dilbar (21 April 2015)."The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Turkic-Speaking Nomads across Eurasia".PLOS Genetics.11 (4) e1005068.doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005068.ISSN1553-7404.PMC4405460.PMID25898006.Our ADMIXTURE analysis (Fig 2) revealed that Turkic-speaking populations scattered across Eurasia tend to share most of their genetic ancestry with their current geographic non-Turkic neighbors. This is particularly obvious for Turkic peoples in Anatolia, Iran, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe, but more difficult to determine for northeastern Siberian Turkic speakers, Yakuts and Dolgans, for which non-Turkic reference populations are absent. We also found that a higher proportion of Asian genetic components distinguishes the Turkic speakers all over West Eurasia from their immediate non-Turkic neighbors. These results support the model that expansion of the Turkic language family outside its presumed East Eurasian core area occurred primarily through language replacement, perhaps by the elite dominance scenario, that is, intrusive Turkic nomads imposed their language on indigenous peoples due to advantages in military and/or social organization.
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1 Central Asian (i.e.Turkmeni,Afghani andIranian)Turkmens, distinct from Levantine (i.e.Iraqi andSyrian) Turkmen/Turkoman minorities, who mostly adhere to an Ottoman-Turkish heritage and identity.2 In traditional areas of Turkish settlement (i.e. formerOttoman territories).
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