Shamakhi

History

Shamakhi was in antiquity part of successive Persian empires and was first mentioned as Kamachia by the ancient Greco-Roman Egyptian geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus in the 1st to 2nd century AD. Shamakhi was an important town during the Middle Ages and served as a capital of the Shirvanshah realm from the 8th to 15th centuries.

Shamakhi maintained economic and cultural relations with India and China in the 12th century, and the excavation of pottery containers proves that Shamakhi also had relations with the Central Asian cities at around the same time. Copper coins found in Shamakhi during archaeological excavations, porcelain containers produced in China, caravanserais serving international trade, prove the role of ancient Shamakhi in the Silk Road.

The Catholic friar, missionary, and explorer William of Rubruck passed through it on his return journey from the Mongol Great Khan's court. In 1476 Venetian diplomat Giosafat Barbaro, while describing the city, stated: "This [Sammachi] is a good city; it has from four to five thousand houses, it produces silk, cotton as well as other things according to its tradition.".

In 1500–1501, it was taken by the Safavid dynasty. Following the conquest of the area by the first Safavid ruler Ismail I, he allowed the descendants of Farrukh Yassar to rule Shamakhi and the rest of Shirvan under Safavid suzerainty. This lasted until 1538, when his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576), turned the territory into a full Safavid province and appointed its first Safavid governor. From then on, Shamakhi functioned as the capital of the Shirvan province. In 1562, Englishman Anthony Jenkinson described the city in the following terms: "This city is five days' walk on camels from the sea; now it has fallen a lot; it is predominantly populated by Armenians..."

According to Carmelite monks who visited the city in 1607, its population was made up of Persians and Armenians. Armenians were actively engaged in trade. In addition to ordinary taxes, the Armenian people paid tribute to other religions. Adam Olearius, who visited Shamakhi in 1637, wrote: "Its inhabitants are in part Armenians and Georgians, who have their particular language; they would not understand each other if they did not use Turkish, which is common to all and very familiar, not only in Shirvan, but also everywhere in Persia". The Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi visited the town in 1647 and described it as having about 7,000 well built houses...26 quarters... seventy mosques...forty schools for boys, seven pleasant baths...forty caravanserais...the greatest part of the inhabitants are Sunnis of the Hanefirites, who perform their prayers secretly. In the 1670s, the Spanish traveler Pedro Cobro Sebastian wrote that the inhabitants of Shamakhi were Persians, Armenians, and Georgians. According to John Bell, an English tourist, Turkish was the common language of the people of 1715, but the city's elites spoke Persian and there were many Georgians and Armenians in the city. The locals were mainly engaged in winemaking, animal husbandry, and carpet weaving. In 1721, the Lezgins of the Safavid provinces of Shirvan and Dagestan, aided by the (rest of the) Sunni inhabitants of the area, sacked the city. They massacred thousands of its Shia inhabitants, apart from looting the city and robbing the property of its Christian inhabitants and foreign nationals, the latter of which were mostly the city's many Russian merchants.

Weaving and rug making in Shamakhi

Historically, Shamakhi was famous for its carpets, whose decoration using the buta motif dominates as with other Shirvan carpets. Shirvan carpets are on display at some of the world's most famous museums. Examples of these are Shirvan (13th century) kept in Istanbul's Turkish and Islamic museum; Shirvan (15th century), kept in the East Region of the Berlin Art Museum; and Shamakhi (17th century) carpets kept in the Pennsylvania Museum of America.

Other artistic products include copper craft, pottery, tailoring, jewelry, woodworking, sculpture, and blacksmithery (blacksmiths were very popular in Alsahab). Also developed in Shamakhi.

Geography

Seismicity

The city is located in the most seismic area of the Caucasus and was hit by powerful earthquakes in 1191 and 1859, which was so destructive that the capital of Shirvan was transferred to Baku twice. In 1872, the earthquake triggered emigration to Baku, where oil production had started in industrial proportions.

The 1667 earthquake is considered to have been the worst with a death toll of 80,000, with one-third of the city collapsed, according to the Persian merchants' reports. The last catastrophic earthquake was recorded in 1902, which destroyed the 10th-century Juma Mosque. Shamakhi is near the boundary of three plates.

Rivers

Shamakhi is located in the central part of Shirvan, at an altitude of about 749 m (2,457 ft) above sea level, in a favorable geographical position. In the south, Shamakhi flows to Zongalavay, and in the east, Pirsaatchay. The city is surrounded by Binasli, Gushhan from the north, Pirdiraki, and Maiden Tower-Georgia from the northwest; and the Meysari Mountains from the west. These mountains can be considered as the city's natural defense fortifications. There are many springs that provide the urban population and people of surrounding villages with drinking water because of located at the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains.

Climate

Shamakhi is a relatively humid city to its area, and has a Mediterranean climate (Csa). With a nice amount of precipitation throughout most of the year, and two relatively dry summer months.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

From the 16th century up until the 18th century, Armenians in Shamakhi formed the majority of the population. According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, Shamakhi—then known as Shemakha—had a population of 27,732 in 1916, including 14,811 men and 12,941 women, 27,259 of whom were the permanent population and 493 were temporary residents. Its ethnoreligious composition was as follows:

The majority of the population is Azerbaijani, while Russians, Lezgins and Tats constitute other minorities. They speak the Azerbaijani language, Russian language, Lezgian language and Tat language respectively.

Religion

The Juma Mosque of Shamakhi is the biggest religious building in the city. Through its history the mosque has been demolished or destroyed a few times, but each time it has been rebuilt, most recently in 2009. It is the oldest mosque in the territory of Azerbaijan, and was built in 743–744. It is second in age in the South Caucasus after the Derbent Juma mosque (built in 734). The mosque was registered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a historical and cultural monument of the country.

The mosque was restored several times in the Middle Ages. Century, during the Shamakhi earthquakes in 1856 and 1902, was destroyed. The first reconstruction was done by Gasim Hajibababayov and later by Iosif Ploško. The last restoration work at the mosque was carried out in 2010–2013.

Economy

After the Decree "On measures to accelerate socio-economic development in the Republic of Azerbaijan", signed by Ilham Aliyev on 24 November 2003 and the "State Program on Socio-Economic Development of the Regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan" approved by the head of state, began to increase living standards in Shamakhi along with other regions.

Thus, at Shamakhi carpet shop where were installed 40 pieces of machine tools, which belongs to "Star" LTD, weave carpets such as "Guba-Shirvan", "Nakhchivan", "Garabagh" and "Tabriz". In 2005, at the Shamakhi TV Production Plant built by "Star" LTD, "Star" branded 37, 54, 72, 74 "LCD", "Plasma", "CV" and digital "Receivers" are produced based on spare parts of Toshiba "VCD"."Star" LTD has invested $10 million in the construction of the AzSamand mini-car production plant.

The building of the Historical-Ethnographic Museum named S.Shirvani was renovated and the bust of 12 great figures from the Shamakhi region was laid in the yard of the museum.

Culture

In the 19th century the town became famous due Shamakhi dancers, the principal dancers of the entertainment groups, similarly to tawaifs. The city is home to Shirvan Domes, a 15th-century mausoleum and graveyard located at the foot of Gulustan Fortress.

Music and media

One can trace the music scene in Shamakhi back to ancient times and to the villages of Baku, generally revered as the fountainhead of mugham in Azerbaijan.

Education

Shamakhi Humanitarian College and Shamakhi State Industrial and Economics College were merged into Shamakhi State Regional College in 2016.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Shamakhi is twinned with the following cities:

Notable residents

The city's notable residents include: philosopher Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, poets Seyid Azim Shirvani, Khaqani and Mirza Alakbar Sabir, mugham singers Alim Qasimov, Yaver Kelenterli and Farghana Qasimova, actors Aghasadyg Garaybeyli and Abbas Mirza Sharifzadeh, architect Gasim bey Hajibababeyov, Armenian playwright and novelist Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian actor Hovhannes Abelian and others.