Oghuz branch
Azerbaijani Turks
An Oghuz Turk people of the South Caucasus and north-western Iran, with a classical literary tradition and celebrated mugham and ashiq music.
Azərbaycan türkləri / Azerbaycan Türkleri
Azerbaijani Turks live on both sides of the Aras River: in the Republic of Azerbaijan, whose capital is Baku, and in north-western Iran, in the region historically known as Azerbaijan around Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil and Zanjan, as well as in Tehran. Their language belongs to the Oghuz branch and is closely related to Turkish and Turkmen.
In 1501 Ismail, the young leader of the Safavid order, took Tabriz and declared himself shah, founding the Safavid dynasty. Writing under the pen name Khatai, he composed poetry in Azerbaijani Turkish. The 16th-century poet Fuzuli, who wrote in Azerbaijani Turkish, Persian and Arabic, is widely regarded as the greatest lyric poet of the language.
Russo-Iranian wars ending in the treaties of Golestan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) brought the lands north of the Aras into the Russian Empire, and the river has since separated the two parts of the historic Azerbaijani-speaking region. North of the Aras, an independent state was declared in 1918; after seven decades of Soviet rule, the Republic of Azerbaijan became independent in 1991.
- Language
- Azerbaijani, an Oghuz Turk language written in a Latin-based alphabet in the Republic of Azerbaijan and in a Perso-Arabic script in Iran
- Branch
- Oghuz
- Homeland
- The Republic of Azerbaijan and north-western Iran, on both sides of the Aras River
- Also living in
- Georgia, Russia (Dagestan), Türkiye, Turkistan and wider diaspora
Key dates
1501
Shah Ismail I takes Tabriz and is proclaimed shah, founding the Safavid dynasty.
1556
Death of Fuzuli, the classic poet of Azerbaijani Turkish literature.
1813 and 1828
The treaties of Golestan and Turkmenchay make the Aras River the frontier between the Russian Empire and Iran.
28 May 1918
Azerbaijan is declared an independent state (the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic).
1991
The Republic of Azerbaijan becomes independent as the Soviet Union dissolves.
Heritage
- Azerbaijani Mugham and the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, both on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
- Traditional art of Azerbaijani carpet weaving, inscribed by UNESCO in 2010
- The Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site (2010), and the Dede Korkut epic heritage shared with Kazakhstan and Türkiye
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Azerbaijan x. Azeri Turkish Literature”
- A. L. Altstadt, The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity under Russian Rule (Hoover Institution Press, 1992)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Treaty of Turkmenchay”