Azerbaijan, which borders four countries, has its longest border to the west with Armenia. The border between these two countries is 1007 kilometers long. But what brings Azerbaijan and Armenia close together is not only the length of their borders, but also the depth of their historical ties. However, in the twentieth century the conflicts between these two nations have turned close neighbors into bitter enemies. At present both nations deny each other’s historical existence and marginalize each other’s ethnic identity. Ethnic clashes have played an important role in bringing these two neighboring peoples to this point. History textbooks and historians have contributed to justifying and legitimizing these clashes.
In this article I will analyze the image of Armenia and the Armenian people in textbooks written for school audiences over the last half century. In one part of the article, I will examine Azerbaijani history textbooks written in the twenty-first century. In another part I will analyze those written at the end of the twentieth century, during the period when the Armenia–Azerbaijan dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh led to war. Finally, I will focus on how Armenian history was presented in Soviet-era textbooks. My aim is to determine how consistent the historical interpretations in textbooks from different periods are with scholarly literature and, consequently, in which period more factual errors were made. For this reason, unlike in my earlier writings, here I will concentrate on factual errors, falsifications, and biased interpretations in the textbooks and will try to explain them.
Armenia and the Armenian people have a special place in the history of Azerbaijan. This specificity can be explained by several factors. Armenia is the only state with which Azerbaijan has fought a war as an independent country. Armed clashes with Armenians in the early twentieth century gave impetus to the formation of Azerbaijani ethnic identity. At that time Azerbaijanis added a sense of ethnic Turkic belonging to their Muslim identity. Confrontation with Armenians taught Azerbaijanis political organization, armed mobilization, and the creation of self-defense units. Hasan Zardabi wrote that he learned cultural and social organization from Armenians. Of course, Armenians also learned much from Azerbaijanis. The story of the mutually beneficial interactions of these two peoples, who have historically shared the same space and lived through the same experiences, is longer than the narratives of conflict. In textbooks, the narratives of which should promote lasting peace and security, what aspects and characteristics of the neighborly relations between these two peoples are emphasized more? By examining Azerbaijani national and world history textbooks published in the twenty-first century, I will attempt to answer this question.
Armenia and Armenians in the Context of Azerbaijani History
In the sixth-grade Azerbaijani history textbook, when the ancient history of the region is explained, the focus is placed mostly on events that took place in the territory of present-day Iran. The main reason for this is that the earliest examples of statehood traditions arose on the Iranian plateau. Since Azerbaijani historians write history in a state-centered rather than society-oriented manner, this approach is understandable. The main issue that attracts attention in this period is that Manna, which is presented as an Azerbaijani state, was located between Assyria and Urartu. At times part of the nobility of Manna politically leaned toward Urartu while another part leaned toward Assyria. In the end Assyria defeated Urartu and Manna had to accept Assyrian suzerainty. The Azerbaijani history textbook does not provide extensive information about Assyria but writes that it was a powerful empire. In the sixth-grade world history textbook there is a paragraph entitled “The Assyrian State.”[1] However, there is no information at all about Urartu. In my opinion the main reason is related to the territory and later fate of the Urartian state. Part of Urartu encompassed modern Armenia.[2] Urartu, first mentioned in Assyrian sources in the early thirteenth century BC, became an important political power in Asia Minor in the ninth to eighth centuries BC. After long wars with Assyrians, Scythians, Medes, and Achaemenids, Urartu weakened and in the sixth century BC it collapsed. Control over the area then passed into the hands of the Armenians. In the fifth century BC, in this territory, the Armenian satrapy was established under the Achaemenid Empire and ruled by the Orontids. From this period on, in ancient Persian and Elamite inscriptions Urartu was already called Armenia (respectively Armina and Harmuniya).[3] In my opinion the reason the Azerbaijani national and world history textbooks give no information about Urartu is because it was later called Armenia.
When the ancient period of Azerbaijani history is described, the textbook uses the word Armenia for the first time. While describing the borders of Albania, it notes that they included the territory of present-day Armenia (in parentheses it is stated that this territory was Western Azerbaijan).[4] Thus, the textbook does not mention any Armenian element in the neighborhood of Albania and Atropatene in ancient times. The civilization to the west of Albania is presented as Western Azerbaijan.
In the seventh-grade Azerbaijani history textbook, which covers the early and classical medieval period, Armenians are mentioned for the first time in connection with the rivalry between Zoroastrianism, the imperial religion of the Sasanians, and Christianity. However, this reference does not actually belong to the early medieval period but to the modern period. The textbook writes that the first Christian temple in the Caucasus was built in Karabakh in Arsak, where the ancient Turkic tribe of the Saks lived in large numbers. It adds: “When our Christian temples were under Armenian occupation they were Armenianized by the occupiers.”[5] The name Arsak (Ərsak), the textbook claims, was also falsified by Armenian occupiers and turned into Artsakh. I will not touch upon the controversial ethnic origin of the Saks and the question of when they came to the region, but I will focus on the term Arsak. The textbook claims that after Armenians occupied Karabakh in the early 1990s they refused to use the term Karabakh and instead revived the ancient term of the Saks, Artsakh. So how is the term Arsak/Artsakh explained in scholarly literature? Researchers link the term Artsakh to Urartu and write that the region was mentioned under different names in sources (for example, Ardakh). The American scholar D. Roller, while explaining the toponyms mentioned in Strabo’s Geography, argued that Orchisten was the Greek version of Artsakh.[6] According to another version, the term Artsakh may be connected to the name of King Artashes I (Artaxias) of the Armenian Artashesid dynasty in the second century BC.[7]
When the Arab conquests are described, the textbook does not provide information about any Armenian element in the region, yet it cannot completely erase the Armenian trace either. The textbook notes that after the Arabs conquered the Caucasus, they created an emirate that also included the territory of Albania (in Arab sources Arran/Ar-Ran), and the capital of this emirate was the city of Dabil (the Arabic version of the word Dvin).[8] Dabil/Dvin (it is assumed that the word comes from Persian dovin (دوین) meaning hill) was the central city of Armenia in the early medieval period and was located 35 kilometers south of modern Yerevan. The American scholar Helen Evans wrote that Dvin did not resemble the great cities that existed in Asia in the Middle Ages and was quite small.[9] Arab authors such as al-Istakhri, al-Muqaddasi, Ibn Hawqal, and others provide information about the population and language of Dvin and its surroundings. For example, the tenth-century author al-Istakhri wrote that Dabil was larger than Ardabil, that it was the capital of Armenia, that there was a royal palace there, and that in that palace sat Smbat, son of Ashot. The majority of Armenia’s population was Christian. This was the Armenian kingdom, and Armenia was a neighbor of Rum.[10] In the region, except for Dabil, people spoke Persian and Arabic, while in Dabil and its surrounding districts the population spoke Armenian.[11]
In the seventh-grade Azerbaijani history textbook, Armenians first appear on the historical stage as inhabitants of the region and as neighbors of the people of Arran in connection with the influence of Islam on national and cultural development. The textbook writes that in that period the struggle of the Armenian and Georgian churches intensified in order to bring the Christian Albanian population living in the western regions of Arran under their influence.[12] Thus, the textbook indirectly admits that there was an Armenian church in the western part of Arran. If there was a church, then there was a population, and this population was Armenian. From the next sentence it becomes clear that Albanians were under strong influence from their western neighbors, the Armenians. The textbook writes that part of the Christian Albanians accepted Islam, while another part became Gregorian and Armenianized.[13] This also points to close contact between Albanians and Armenians.
After the Caliphate disintegrated, one of the small states established on the territory of modern Azerbaijan was the Shaddadid dynasty. While describing events of the ninth to tenth centuries, the textbook presents Dabil as the ancestral land of the Shaddadids.[14] For some reason, however, in the earlier pages where Dabil was presented as the capital of the Arab emirate, its connection with the Shaddadids was not mentioned. This means that the Shaddadids could establish themselves in these territories only after the disintegration of the Arab Caliphate, that is, in the ninth to tenth centuries.
The Armenians are mentioned more frequently in connection with the Seljuk invasions. The textbook writes that in 1037 the Shaddadids allied with the Oghuz and defeated the Byzantine-Armenian army.[15] Until the eleventh century there was no mention of any Armenian element in the region, yet during the Seljuk invasions it becomes clear that Armenians had an army. The existence of an army, of course, implies the existence of a state. The textbook remains silent about this and does not provide any information about where the Armenian army came from. In the eleventh century the Oghuz migrations are described as an important factor in preventing the attacks of Byzantium and of the Armenian-Georgian feudal lords on Shirvan. (After the collapse of the Arab Caliphate, in sources the term Arran was replaced with the term Shirvan.) In general, the Oghuz-Seljuk migration into Shirvan revealed the political power of Armenians in the region. The textbook writes that one of the positive aspects of these migrations was that “they provided successful resistance against the Armenian and Georgian feudal lords who were trying to seize the western lands of Azerbaijan.”[16] Unfortunately, the textbook does not localize the Armenians who were coveting the western lands of Shirvan.
When interpreting processes of the Seljuk-Oghuz period, the textbook also acknowledges that there was a Christian population in the region. Although the ethnic origin of this Christian population is not mentioned, the authors of the textbook note that Shams al-Din Eldeniz took measures to ensure that they lived in peace.[17] After the state of the Atabegs weakened in the time of Abu Bakr, Georgian-Armenian raids went unanswered.
In the section entitled “Azerbaijani Culture of the Ninth to Eleventh Centuries,” when discussing the epic Book of Dede Qorqud, the textbook notes that the Oghuz lived around Lake Göyçə and the Alagöz pastures.[18] Here another problem arises concerning Armenians, and that problem is related to the geographical terms Göyçə and Alagöz. The term Göyçə did not exist in the eleventh century. The earliest use of this term is found in the Mongol period, later in the Qara Qoyunlu period.[19] In ancient sources the lake by that name was called Gelam or Gegham, and in medieval sources it was called Sevan.[20] The same explanation applies to the term Alagöz. The name Alagöz arose with the Turkification of the region and was not used before the fifteenth century. In ancient and medieval sources, the mountain was called Aragats, which is an Armenian word. There is no precise information about the etymology of Aragats, but some researchers connect it with the name of the Urartian king Argishti I.[21] Argishti also founded the city of Argishtihinili, which was later called Armavir. It is believed that during his reign the borders of Urartu extended to Mount Aragats.
When the history of the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu states (respectively Baharlu and Bayandurlu) is described, the textbook emphasizes that Christian populations, Armenians and Georgians, lived in the territory and that the Muslim rulers pursued a policy of tolerance toward them.[22] At this point, the modern city of Yerevan is mentioned for the first time under the name “İrəvan” (from now on, Iravan). It is noted that the head of the Armenian Gregorian Church transferred the center of the catholicosate from the city of Sis in Cilicia to the region of Iravan with the permission of Jahan Shah, the Baharlu ruler.[23] While describing the period before the fifteenth century, the textbook does not mention a city called Iravan among the historical cities of Azerbaijan. The city is mentioned only in connection with the history of the Qara Qoyunlus. This allows one to say that the city was Turkified and Islamized in that time. However, the textbook puts forward a completely different version and states that it was precisely after the transfer of the catholicosate that Armenian influence in the city increased. The textbook writes that later Armenians Armenianized the Christian Albanian monuments that had previously existed in those territories. This explanation in fact claims that before the fifteenth century the main population of the city called Iravan consisted of Christian Albanians.
In the eighth-grade Azerbaijani history textbook, which describes events of the late feudal period, the narrative begins with the depiction and results of the Safavid–Ottoman wars. As a result of the Safavids liberating the territory of modern Azerbaijan from Ottoman occupation in the early seventeenth century, the fortresses of Loru and Tiflis were taken. The textbook presents Loru as one of the settlements “belonging to Azerbaijan” that was destroyed in the fourteenth century.[24] Loru, or more properly Lori, is one of the historical-geographical regions of Armenia. In ancient and medieval sources, it was called Tashir. The word Lori is thought to have come from the Armenian word lor, meaning quail. In medieval Georgian sources Lori was referred to as Somkhiti,[25] that is, Armenia.[26] Although Lori from time to time came under Iberian control, until the middle of the eleventh century it remained under the rule of Armenian kings. During the Seljuk campaigns it submitted to Alp Arslan, but in the early twelfth century it completely lost its independence.
When describing the social situation of non-Muslims living under the Safavid state, the textbook describes the satisfactory treatment of the Christian population by Safavid rulers.[27] The Armenian Church and wealthy Armenian merchants managed to obtain great privileges and concessions from the shah’s court. Armenian merchants, benefiting from the patronage of the shah, sent caravans to the Ottoman Empire and other countries and amassed great wealth. These details once again confirm that Armenians were residents of the territory of the Safavid state and that part of them formed a wealthy merchant stratum. From this period the name Iravan also begins to appear among the historical cities of Azerbaijan.
The early eighteenth century began with the conquest of the Caucasus, including the territory of modern Azerbaijan, by Russia. The textbook writes that Peter I’s decrees of 1724 gave impetus to the settlement of Armenians along the Caspian Sea coast of modern Azerbaijan, especially in Baku and Derbent.[28] The eighteenth century is also the history of the creation of independent khanates on the territory of modern Azerbaijan and of the struggles and wars among them. While describing the history of the Karabakh Khanate, it is noted that the population of this territory consisted mainly of six Turkic tribes and a small number of Christian Albanians. The ruler of the khanate, Panah Ali Khan, is presented as the leader of the Javanshir tribe and one of the commanders of Nadir Shah.[29] On the following pages the textbook authors write that the few Christian Albanians were settled in five melikdoms of Karabakh.[30] Although the meliks recognized the authority of Panah Ali Khan, they pursued deceitful policies and incited Russia to march on Karabakh.
On page 109 of the textbook, Iravan is presented as the “Khanate of Western Azerbaijan,” and “Azerbaijani Turks” are described as its oldest population. The resettlement of Christians in this area is dated to the fifteenth century, that is, to the Qara Qoyunlu period, and the book notes that until then there had been no settlement belonging to Armenians in that territory.[31] With this statement, the authors repeat the information from the seventh-grade textbook about the transfer of the Armenian catholicosate from Cilicia to Yerevan during the reign of Qara Qoyunlu ruler Jahan Shah. However, since they forget another piece of information, they create contradictory ideas. The seventh-grade Azerbaijani history textbook notes that even before the transfer of the catholicosate to Iravan, a Christian population resided there, although this population was presented as Christian Albanian.[32] Thus, if we compare the information provided by the two textbooks, it becomes clear that until the fifteenth century, before the catholicosate was transferred from Cilicia to Iravan, Christian Albanians lived in the city alongside “Azerbaijani Turks.” Later Christian Armenians joined them.
On page 126, the textbook provides information about the five melikdoms of the Karabakh Khanate, and these meliks are accused of separatism.[33] While giving information about the Christian Albanian meliks of Karabakh, the textbook claims that with the exception of the Melikdom of Khachen, the populations of the other four melikdoms migrated to Karabakh from other places. For example, the textbook writes that the population of the Melikdom of Chilaburd came to Karabakh from Maghaviz, and that the population of Maghaviz had migrated from Maku to the Iravan province in the eighteenth century. This explanation raises two questions: 1) Who were those who migrated from Maku to Maghaviz? 2) Where was Maghaviz located? Since the textbook presents the population of the melikdoms as Christian Albanians, one might conclude that those who migrated from Maku to Iravan were Albanians. However, so far no source has mentioned any trace of Christian Albanians on the territory of Iran. On the other hand, in earlier pages the textbook refers to the Christian Armenian population of the Safavid state. For this reason, we may assume that those who migrated from Maku to Iravan were Christian Armenians. There are numerous historical sources about the location of Maghaviz. I considered it appropriate to refer to Ottoman sources. In the sixteenth century the Ottomans, in order to administer the lands of Shirvan they had conquered, created administrative units (sanjaks) in accordance with the imperial system and drew up special registers to regulate the tax system. One such register was drawn up for the Ganja-Karabakh region. The center of the sanjak was Khachen, and one of the districts included in the sanjak was Maghaviz. According to Ottoman sources, Maghaviz was a district of the Karabakh sanjak.[34]
The authors write that the population of the Melikdom of Dizak came from Loru. The explanation given above about Lori provides grounds to say that its population consisted not of Christian Albanians but of Armenians. The textbooks states that Nadir Shah permitted the migration from Lori.[35] The Melikdom of Varanda is said to have migrated from Göyçə. Those who migrated from Göyçə were also not Albanians but Armenians. The textbook writes that the melik of Talysh fled from Shirvan and came to Karabakh. The eighteenth-century author Yesai Hasan Jalalian, in his book A Brief History of the Aghuank Region, wrote that Armenians lived compactly in the area of Shirvan called Qarasu and noted that Armenians had migrated there from the place called Karabakh.[36] In the Middle Ages, when feudal and conquest wars were constant, frequent population movements were common.
On page 148, the textbook describes the annexation of Eastern Georgia to Russia and notes that as a result of the treaty signed, a number of historical Azerbaijani lands were annexed by Russia. Among these lands are Borchali, Loru (Lori), and Pambak, which are located outside the borders of the modern Azerbaijani state. Two of these places are directly connected with Armenia. Since I have already discussed Lori (Loru) above, here I will focus on Pambak. Pambak is the name of a river flowing through the Lori region, and the settlement around it is also called Pambak. Sources of the Russian Empire write that until the late fifteenth century the main population of this area consisted of Armenians. After Uzun Hasan subordinated Georgia, he settled Turkic tribes along its southern borders. This led to the migration of local Armenians from Pambak into Georgian territory. The Turks who settled around the Debed River (called Tatars in Russian-language sources) were referred to as Pambaklis. At that time, along with Pambak, the Turkification of Gazakh, Shuragel, and Shamshaddil also began.[37] The Turkologist Faruk Sümer also dates the complete Turkification of these territories to the fifteenth century.[38] The textbook accuses Armenians of espionage in favor of the occupiers during the period when Russia became active in the region.[39]
The authors of the textbook write that after the Russian Empire conquered the South Caucasus, a special clause was added to the Treaty of Turkmenchay for the resettlement of Armenians in these territories. Most likely, the authors mean Article 15 of the Treaty of Turkmenchay. However, this article does not contain any provision about the migration of Armenians from Iran to the Caucasus and especially to Shirvan. The article only allowed subjects of Iran’s Azerbaijan province to change their allegiance to Russia within one year without any obstacles.[40]
In the ninth-grade Azerbaijani history textbook, Armenians are mentioned for the first time in connection with the resettlement policy of the Russian Empire. Since the empire did not trust the Muslim population, it resettled Christians in the region, and Armenians were among them.[41] The textbook presents Armenians as “a people without a homeland, scattered across different countries of the world.” It adds that the main reason Russia gave special care to Armenians and resettled them in historical Azerbaijani lands was “Armenians’ betrayal” of the Qajar state and the Ottoman Empire, of which they had been subjects. Two problems arise with this interpretation. The first is that the authors claim Armenians were not native inhabitants of either the Ottoman Empire or the Qajar state and had migrated there from elsewhere. However, both historical sources and modern historiography in Türkiye and Iran reject this claim.[42] The second problem is related to the resettlement policy and the ethnic origin of the Christian population living on the territory of Iran. In the eighth-grade Azerbaijani history textbook, the authors argue that those who lived in Maghaviz were Christian Albanians and that they had migrated there from Iravan, while those in Iravan had come from Maku. Now it turns out that the Christian population living in Iran was not Albanian but Armenian, since among the Christian population resettled from Iran under the Tsarist resettlement policy there is no mention of an Albanian element. What the authors call “Armenian betrayal” was in fact the Armenians’ struggle for national liberation in the Ottoman Empire and for democracy in Iran in the early twentieth century. The textbook notes that for the Armenians resettled in Azerbaijan, the Armenian Province was created, which included the territories of Karabakh, Nakhchivan, Iravan, and Borchali. In 1840, as a result of administrative-territorial reforms, this province was divided into two, and in its place the Nakhchivan and Iravan districts were created. In 1849, on the basis of these two districts, the Iravan governorate was established.[43]
On page 54, when discussing the national-democratic movement, the textbook provides information about national political parties. It writes that the Difai party “punished Armenian terrorists and Tsarist officials who protected them,” who had carried out mass massacres. The causes of the Armenian-Muslim conflict are explained by the desire of the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun party to create an Armenian state in the South Caucasus. The textbook writes that since “the majority of the population of the region consisted of Azerbaijani Turks,” in order to realize this desire it was necessary “to cleanse Iravan, Ganja, and Karabakh of the Azerbaijani population.” For this reason, the Dashnaks ordered that these areas be cleansed of Muslims. Armenian armed units massacred Azerbaijani Muslim populations in various regions in an attempt to gain numerical superiority.[44] The textbook also notes that the Armenian-Muslim confrontation strengthened the national unity of Azerbaijanis.
After the fall of Tsarism, the textbook writes, in Baku and the surrounding districts the Baku Soviet was established, while in the rest of the region the power of the Transcaucasian Commissariat, made up of Georgians, Azerbaijanis, and Armenians, was established.[45] This is the first piece of information in the Azerbaijani history textbook about cooperation between Azerbaijanis and Armenians. The armed clashes in the Baku governorate between March and September 1918 are described as genocide organized by the chairman of the Baku Soviet, Shaumyan, against Azerbaijani Turks. However, the textbook also notes the political motive of this genocide. The purpose of the genocide was to destroy the Musavat Party together with its social base.[46]
When describing the political processes of 1918–1920, the textbook refers to the crimes committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis in Nakhchivan, Zangezur, and Karabakh, to the organization of armed resistance by Azerbaijanis to stop these crimes, and to the creation of the Republic of Aras-Turk in Nakhchivan.[47] During its existence, the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic constantly faced territorial claims from neighboring Armenia. The textbook writes that Armenians needed a political and administrative center in order to establish a state and that Armenian representatives appealed to the Azerbaijani National Council to give them Iravan as a center. At the meeting of the National Council on 29 May 1918 it was decided to cede Iravan to the Armenians. In return, Armenians promised to renounce their territorial claims to “Zangezur, Nakhchivan, Sharur-Daralayaz, and the mountainous part of Karabakh, which are Azerbaijani lands.” The textbook states that Armenians did not keep their promises. Armenians “created a state on historical Azerbaijani lands” and “destroyed our towns and villages in the territories they claimed and did not hesitate to commit genocide against the local population.”[48]
When describing the processes after the Sovietization of Azerbaijan and Armenia, is the textbook emphasizes that during the Soviet period Azerbaijan lost 12.000 square kilometres of territory. After the Second World War, Armenian leadership once again raised with Moscow the issue of annexing part of Azerbaijani territory, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, to Armenia. On 23 December 1947 the USSR Council of Ministers adopted the decision “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR to the Kura-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR.” Thus, the textbook claims, as a result of the anti-Azerbaijani policy of the Soviet leadership and Armenia, the number of Azerbaijanis living in the Armenian SSR decreased significantly. In Azerbaijan, however, the opposite process was taking place. Due to the arrival of Armenians from villages to cities for work, “the number of Armenians in large cities was artificially increased.”[49] Regarding the 1947 decision, it should be noted that the resettlement was carried out voluntarily. Azerbaijanis living in Armenia were not forcibly relocated to Azerbaijan. However, after arriving in the proposed areas, the climate conditions and work in cotton farming did not satisfy them, and the majority of Azerbaijanis returned to Armenia. Internal migrations in the Soviet period, generally, were connected with economic factors. The latest statistical data of the Soviet period prove that among those who migrated from the regions to the cities, the majority were Azerbaijanis rather than Armenians.[50]
When describing the events on the eve of the collapse of the USSR, the textbook writes about Armenian nationalists’ territorial claims and their consequences. It states that the Armenian nationalists in Iravan and Khankendi initially wanted to shed the blood of their own compatriots, blame the Azerbaijanis for this, and later organize a propaganda campaign around it. “This was a method tested by Armenians for centuries.” This factor became the main impetus for the start of unrest and violence in Sumgait on 28–29 February 1988.[51] The authors of the textbook, who placed the blame in the Sumgait events solely on Armenians, did not wish to recall the violence that had taken place against Armenians in Baku.
Armenia and Armenians in the Context of World History
In the sixth-grade textbook dedicated to ancient world history, no information is given about the state of Urartu, which included the territory of modern Armenia. Urartu is mentioned only in connection with its confrontations with Assyria and Media.[52] When describing the ancient states that existed on the Iranian plateau (Achaemenid, Parthian, Sasanian), there is no information about Armenians. Scholarly literature shows that the Orontid dynasty of Persian origin ruled the Armenian satrapy under the Achaemenids.[53] Mithridates II, one of the most powerful rulers of Parthia, after subduing Armenia, took the king’s son (or nephew) Tigran as a hostage. Tigran was later appointed king of Armenia by Mithridates II and ruled the country under the name Tigran II.[54] In the mid-third century Shapur of the Sasanians conquered Armenia and incorporated it into the empire, placing his heir Hormizd-Ardashir on the Armenian throne.[55] However, the textbook prefers to remain silent about these events and thus erases the Armenian traces from the ancient history of the region.
The textbook touches on Armenian history for the first time indirectly in the section entitled “The Caucasus in the Seventh to Ninth Centuries.” The textbook does not use the term Armenian. It writes that “the rulers of the Bagratid dynasty of Jewish origin, taking advantage of the feudal fragmentation in Azerbaijan, intensified their campaigns to the east.” This dynasty ruled the Abkhaz-Kartli (Georgian) state.[56] The textbook also writes that another branch of the Bagratid dynasty tried to establish itself around Lake Van. In the eleventh century the expansionist plans of the Bagratid dynasty, supported by Byzantium, were completely thwarted by the influx of Oghuz-Seljuk Turks into the region. Who was this “Jewish origin” Bagratid dynasty?
What the textbook presents as the Bagratids were in fact the Bagratunis, and there are claims about the Jewish origin of this dynasty. One of the first to make this claim was the Armenian chronicler Movses Khorenatsi. However, modern researchers do not consider this to be true and regard the Bagratunis as closer to Urartian, Atropatene-Median, or Persian-Armenian elements.[57] During the Arab conquests, members of the Bagratuni dynasty who bore the title of ishkhan succeeded in creating an independent kingdom around the same period. One of the main reasons for this was that the Arabs supported the Bagratunis rather than the powerful Mamikonian family.[58]
One of the states in which Armenian traces are most often encountered in the Middle Ages is the Byzantine Empire. In the section dedicated to the Byzantine Empire, the textbook notes that this empire was multi-ethnic, and that the majority of its population consisted of Greeks, but it does not provide any information about Armenians.[59] Yet Armenians not only lived within the territory of the Byzantine Empire, but also some of the Byzantine emperors were partly of Armenian origin. One example is Heraclius I, who ruled from 610 to 641.[60] After Armenia was divided between the Sasanian and Byzantine empires in 387, the terms Western Armenia or Byzantine Armenia came into use. When the textbook describes the wars between the Sasanians and the Romans, it ignores these events in order to avoid using the word Armenia.
In the eighth-grade world history textbook, in the section “Eastern Countries in the Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries,” the subsection on the Caucasus describes the struggle between the Ottomans and the Safavids over the Caucasus in the sixteenth century. In this subsection there is information about Georgians but no mention of Armenians.[61] However, even in this period Armenian traces can be found in the region. The textbook writes that when the South Caucasus came under Ottoman rule, the populations of Borchali-Pambak (Pambak is in the territory of modern Armenia) and Gazakh, who did not accept this, created their own independent khanates.
Another interesting point concerns Lori. In the History of Azerbaijan textbook, Lori is presented as “the Azerbaijani land of Loru,” but in the world history textbook its name is not distorted, and it is not claimed to be ancient Azerbaijani land. As noted, in ancient and early medieval sources Lori is referred to as Tashir. In the eleventh century King David I of the Tashir-Dzoraget kingdom built a fortress called Lori in this territory, after which the territory came to be called Lori.
When describing events of the eighteenth century, the textbook writes that the Christian population of the region sought refuge with Tsar Peter I of Russia in order to escape the invasion campaigns of Muslim states. Although the existence of an Armenian population is not mentioned, an Armenian priest is mentioned, which indirectly indicates that there was an Armenian population in the region.[62]
In the ninth-grade world history textbook dedicated to the modern period, there is no separate section or subsection entitled Caucasus. In the section “World Countries in the Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries” there is a paragraph about Russia. In this section the conquest of the Caucasus by Russia is described. The mass resettlement of Armenians from the Ottoman Empire and the Qajar state and their settlement in “Azerbaijani lands” is presented as part of the colonial policy pursued by Tsarist Russia in the region.[63] In doing so, the textbook acknowledges that a large Armenian community lived within the Ottoman Empire and the Qajar state, which were located within the borders of modern Azerbaijan.
In the section dedicated to the Ottoman Empire, although there is no mention of discrimination against non-Muslim peoples living within the empire, the “Imperial Edict of Gülhane” proclaimed in 1839 confirms this. The edict provided for the protection of the life, honor, and property of all subjects, the proper collection of taxes, the abolition of the tax-farming system, and the regulation of conscription. The textbook writes that according to the Edict, regardless of religion, all subjects of the empire were promised equality in rights and duties.
When describing the Russo-Ottoman wars, the textbook touches on issues of territorial change, but even then, it does not touch on the Armenian issue. For example, the Treaty of San Stefano, signed in 1877, resulted in the annexation of Ardahan, Batumi, and Kars by Russia. Among these territories, Kars was important for Azerbaijan because during the ADR period it was considered one of the disputed territories because it was claimed by Armenians, Georgians, and Azerbaijanis alike. Early information about Kars is found in Armenian and Byzantine chronicles from the ninth century.[64] From 929 to 961 Kars was the capital of the Armenian Bagratuni kingdom, and from 963 to 1065 it was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Kars or Vanand. In 961 the Armenian king Ashot III moved the capital to the city of Ani. In 1065 Kars was conquered first by Byzantium and then by the Seljuks. Armenians constituted the main part of the population until the period of Seljuk rule.
When the textbook describes the deep crisis and decline of the Ottoman Empire, it does not provide any information about the national liberation movements of minorities at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. In the section dedicated to the First World War, it also does not mention massacres against minorities within the Ottoman Empire, but it mentions “the Armenian treachery.”[65] The textbook emphasizes that the defeat of the Ottoman army in the Battle of Sarikamish in early 1915 created favorable conditions for Russian troops to launch offensive operations in eastern Anatolia. In these operations, Armenian volunteer military units armed by the Russians actively participated, carried out genocide against the Turkish-Muslim population of the region, and caused terrible destruction. At the same time, the textbook notes that the Armenian population provided comprehensive support to the Russian army, but it does not explain the reasons for such negative attitudes of Armenians toward their own state.
Notes and References
[1] Ümumi tarix. 6-cı sinif. (Azpoliqraf LTD, 2021), 49. [World History].
[2] Zimansky, Paul E. “Urartu”. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. (Oxford University Press, 2011).
[3] Robert Rollinger “The Median ‘Empire’, the End of Urartu and Cyrus the Great’s Campaign in 547 BC (Nabonidus Chronicle II 16) “. Ancient West & East 7, 2008, 61 (pp.51-66).
[4] Azərbaycan tarixi. 6-cı sinif. (Təhsil Nəşriyyat-Poliqrafiya, 2022), 103. [History of Azerbaijan].
[5] Azərbaycan tarixi. 7-ci sinif. (Təhsil Nəşriyyat-Poliqrafiya, 2023), 11.
[6] Roller, Duane W. A historical and topographical guide to the geography of Strabo. (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Book 12, Central and Northern Anatolia, 678.
[7] Lang David M. The Armenians: A People in Exile. (Routledge, 1981), Introduction, p. x.
[8] Azərbaycan tarixi. 7-ci sinif. (Təhsil Nəşriyyat-Poliqrafiya, 2023),16.
[9] Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages. Helen C. Evans, ed. Exhibition Catalogue (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018), Chapter 1, 31.
[10] In medieval Eastern sources, Rum (Rome) is the name of the Byzantine Empire. During the Seljuk period, however, only the territories of Asia Minor were called Rum
[11] Караулов Н. А. Сведения арабских писателей X и XI веков по Р. Хр. о Кавказе, Армении и Адербейджане. Выпуск 1, Ал-Истахрий. (Типография Канцелярии главного начальника гражданской части на Кавказе, 1901–1902). 2 т., 185, 192.
[12] Azərbaycan tarixi. 7-ci sinif, 25.
[13]Ibid.
[14] Ibid., 36.
[15] Ibid., 38.
[16] Ibid., 56.
[17] Ibid., 61.
[18] Ibid., 50.
[19] See: Woods J. The Aqquyunlu: Clans, Confederation, Empire. (University of Utah Press, 1999), 78.
[20] Robert H. Hewsen, “The Primary History of Armenia: An Examination of the Validity of an Immemorially Transmitted Historical Tradition”, In History in Africa Vol. 2, (Cambridge University Press, 1975), 93.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Azərbaycan tarixi. 7-ci sinif, 109.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Azərbaycan tarixi. 8-ci sinif. (Təhsil Nəşriyyat-Poliqrafiya, 2023), 23.
[25] Georgians call their neighbors, the Armenians, somkhi, and their country Somkheti.
[26] Toumanoff C. Studies in Christian Caucasian history. (Georgetown University Press, 1963), 474-75.
[27] Azərbaycan tarixi. 8-ci sinif, 27.
[28] Ibid., 58.
[29] Ibid., 103.
[30] Ibid., 105.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Ibid., 110.
[32] See: Azərbaycan tarixi. 7-ci sinif, 109.
[33] Azərbaycan tarixi. 8-ci sinif, 127.
[34] “Gence-Karabağ eyaleti icmal defteri”.-lstanbul, Başbakanlık Arşivi, Tapu- Tahrir defteri, N: 699.
[35] Azərbaycan tarixi. 8-ci sinif, 127.
[36] A Brief History of the Aghuank Region (Patmufiwn Hamaröt Aghuanits‘ Erkri) A History of Karabagh and Ganje from 1702-1723, Introduction and Annotated Translation by George A. Boumoutian, (Mazda Publishers Inc. Costa Mesa, 2009) 56.
[37] Утверждение русского владычества на Кавказе том 12, (Типография Канцелярии Главноначальствующаго гражданскою частью на Кавказѣ, Лорисъ -Меликовская улица, доліъ казенный, 1901), 26–7.
[38]Sümer, F. (1957). “Azerbaycan’ın Türkleşmesi Tarihine Umumi Bir Bakış.” Belleten, 21(83), 445–7..
[39] Azərbaycan tarixi. 8-ci sinif, 149.
[40]Россия. Законы и постановления. Полное собрание законов Российской империи. Собрание 2-е. (Тип. 2-го Отделения cобственно ее императорского величества канцелярии, 1830–1885), т.3, 130.
[41]Azərbaycan tarixi. 9-cu sinif. Bakı: Şərq-Qərb, 2024, 10.
[42] We will address the problem of Armenian traces in the Achaemenid, Parthian, Sasanian, and Byzantine empires during the analysis of the World history textbook. For Armenians in Byzantine territory in the early period of the Ottoman state, see: Halaçoğlu, Yusuf. Ermeni Tehciri (20th ed.). (Babıali Kültür Yayıncılığı, 2011); for Armenian traces in ancient Iran, see: Pourshariati, P. Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire. (IB-Tauris, 2017).
[43] Azərbaycan tarixi. 9-cu sinif. Bakı: Şərq-Qərb, 2024, 16
[44] Ibid., 63.
[45] Ibid., 76.
[46] Ibid., 82.
[47] Ibid., 98.
[48] Ibid., 102.
[49] Ibid., 132.
[50] Козлов, В.И. Национальности СССР: этно-демографический обзор. (Финансы и Статистика,
1982), 91, 93, 97, 120.
[51] Ibid., 139.
[52] Ümumi tarix. 6-cı sinif. Bakı:Azpoliqraf LTD, 2021, 52, 55.
[53] Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian history, 278.
[54] Olbrycht, Marek Jan. “Mithridates VI Eupator and Iran”. In Højte, Jakob Munk (ed.). Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom. Black Sea Studies. Vol. 9. (Aarhus University Press, 2009), 164–166.
[55] Chaumont, M. L. “Armenia and Iran ii. The pre-Islamic period”. In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. II/4: Architecture IV–Armenia and Iran IV. (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986). 418–438.
[56] Ibid., 33.
[57]Периханян А. Г. “Арамейская надпись из Зангезура”, Историко-филологический журнал. N 4, 1965, 110.
[58] See: Garsoïan Nina G., “The Arab Invasions and the Rise of the Bagratuni (640–884)”. In Hovannisian, Richard G. (ed.). The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. Vol. 1. (St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 117-142.
[59] Ümumi tarix. 7-ci sinif, 54.
[60]Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade, 34.
[61] Ümumi tarix. 8-ci sinif (Şərq-Qərb, 2023), 52.
[62]Ümumi tarix. 8-ci sinif, 57.
[63] Ümumi tarix. 9-cu sinif, (Şərq-Qərb, 2024), 27.
[64] Constantine Porphyrogenitus. De Administrando Imperio [On Administering the Empire]. Moravcsik, Gyula, ed. English Translation by Jenkins R.J.H. (Washington D.C. 1993), 199-204.
[65] Ümumi tarix. 9-cu sinif, 44.
