Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan.

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY State symbols and attributes

CAPITAL

• General overview of Baku

• Symbols of Baku city

o Flag of "Bacu" (Baku) in the Middle Ages

o The emblem of Icheri sheher (the inner city) in the Middle Ages

o Baku’s first coats of arms

o The emblem of Baku city at present

• History of Baku city Executive Power

• History of Baku

o On the etymology of the name “Baku”

o Antiquity

o Middle Ages

o Russian Empire

o Oil Boom

o The Pre-Revolutionary Period

o Soviet Baku

• The architectural monuments of Baku and Absheron peninsula

• Old city (Icheri Sheher) in Baku

• The Ensemble of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace

o The Palace Building

o Divankhana

o The Shirvanshahs’ Burial-vault

o The Palace Mosque

o The Palace Bath-House

o Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s Mausoleum

o The Eastern Portal

• The Maiden Tower

 Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan.
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• The Sabael Castle

• Towers of Absheron

• The Fire Temple Ateshgah

• Modern Baku

• Brief chronology of the history of Baku

• Documents related to the capital

• Bibliography cited

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General overview of Baku

Baku is the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It is a large scientific, cultural and industrial

center. Ancient foundations, a large area and population all

make Baku one of the oldest and largest cities in the East.

People have lived and founded their settlements in Baku

city and the Absheron peninsula since ancient times. This was

motivated by continuous migrations from north to south and

from west to east due to the physical and geographical

conditions, a favorable location in the center of trade routes

that crossed Silk Road, climatic conditions, production of

petroleum fuel in ancient times and the availability of large power resources.

Baku is situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea in the south of the Absheron peninsula. It

covers an area of 2,200 square km and has a population of 2 million. Nearly 500,000 refugees from

Armenia as well as IDPs from the occupied territories, currently reside in Baku.

Baku has 11 administrative districts and 5 settlements.

Modern Baku is a large industrial complex with a developed extraction of oil and gas, petro-

chemical, machine-engineering and metalworking industry, production of construction materials.

Baku is a great transport junction. The leading part in freight turnover belongs to the

commercial seaport. Airlines connect Baku with a number of cities in the world. The railway lines

connect Baku with Georgia, Russia and Iran.

Baku’s twin cities are Izmir (Turkey), Naples (Italy), Dakar (Senegal), Sarajevo (Bosnia and

Herzegovina), Bordeaux (France), Basra (Iraq), Houston (the USA) and Meinz (Germany).

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Symbols of Baku city

Flag of "Bacu" (Baku) in the Middle Ages

The "Book of All Kingdoms", of 1350, tells the voyages of an anonymous Castilian friar and is

illustrated with 113 flag images, referred to (though seldom described) in the text.

The 109th flag mentioned and illustrated in the "Book of All

Kingdoms" is attributed to "Bacu" (Baku).

The 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription of the "Book" shows

a white flag with a red emblem, made of a red crescent pointing to

the hoist offset to the fly and a device consisting of a vertical bar

ending in a ring on the top and in the base a an arm of a cross patty,

with a shorter such element attached to its hoist side lacking the ring; the flag is shown in the ogival

default shape of this source. This design appears five times in the "Book" (91st, 104th, 107th, 109th

and 110th flags in the Spanish transcription), being the most duplicated flag in the "Book".

The anonymous author of the "Book" describes the flag thusly: E las señales del Emperador de

Sara son un pendón blanco con una señal bermeja tal (The device of the Emperor of Sara is a white flag

with a red sign - translation as provided in the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) of the "Book").

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The emblem of Icheri sheher (the inner city) in the Middle ages

During archaeological excavations in Icheri Sheher and its surrounding scientists found many

images of bulls (see over

the text). It is well-

known that the bull was

very respected by

Zoroastrians and it is

quite possible that the

bull head was the first emblem of ancient Baku. Portrayed on the central double gate of Icheri

Sheher - Gate of Shah Abbas, the bull (at the left) with two symbols of the Fire and the Sun confirms

this assumption (the pattern made on an apartment house of the 18th century, to some extent

repeats this idea - see p. 84). The lions standing on the right and on the

left from the bull, might have symbolized Safavids that took the city at

the time when there were still Zoroastrians living in it. Despite this

assumption, there is another one confirmed by the images of four lions of

heraldic character that were preserved on the minaret of Juma Mosque,

built in the 15th century (see over the text, in the centre), and lions could have been connected with

the emblem of Shirvan. A traveler of the 17th century Kempfer explained the images over the gates

of the Fortress in this way: "the lions protect the bull, that is - a city inside walls, under the Sun and

the Moon, day and night".

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Baku’s first coats of arms

Baku was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1806 but was not granted a coat of arms until

after 1840, when the tsar issued a decree on the “Institution of Administration for the

Transcaucasian region”. Once incorporated into the structure of Russian government, the region

had to acquire the attributes of imperial heraldry.

In 1841 General Golovin, commander-in-chief of the Caucasus, and Senator Gan, chairman of

the Commission for Establishing Governance of the Transcaucasian region, informed the capital

that the Caspian region (which included Baku), "as well as other Caucasian districts" did not have a

coat of arms. On 21 May 1843, the emperor approved a coat of arms for the Georgian-Imeretian

governorate and the Caspian region. On 21 July of the same year the Senate issued its decree. The

register of coats of arms of the Russian empire, compiled by Von Winkler, actually gives inaccurate

dates for the approval of the coats of arms for the Caspian region and Baku, and we correct this

here. The Baku district coat of arms was approved along with the one for the Caspian region.

The Baku coat of arms of 1843 was a shield, divided in two. The upper

half contained part of the regional coat of arms on a gold background: on the

left a "standing tiger", on the right "jets of burning gas, bursting from the

ground". The lower part had a blue background: on the left an "endorse

(centre line- ed.) and camel bearing saffron stems with flowers to symbolize the

important businesses of transport and saffron cultivation"; on the right was a

"cast anchor, signifying Baku's role as a port". From Winkler's terminology we

conclude that the 1843 Baku coat of arms was not directly representative of the city. Depicting the

whole or part of the governorate coat of arms was obligatory in districts

of the Russian Empire, and this is true of Baku's coat of arms. The

figures used: camel, tiger and saffron, are non-heraldic, i.e. they are

taken from real life.

On the 1883 Baku coat of arms the central figure, three golden

flames, represents the natural wealth (oil and gas) of the Absheron

peninsula. Their placement on the shield (one at the top, two below) is

incorrect in heraldry, as three figures on a shield, according to Winkler, should be arranged with

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PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY State symbols and attributes

two above and one below. A golden tower crown would top shields on the coats of arms of

governor-ate cities, and tower and city crowns were based on a city's walls, with their castellations

and turrets. The adornment around the shield was the Alexander's medal scarlet ribbon, which

traditionally connects spikes, vines, anchors, hammers, picks and banners. On Baku's coat of arms it

connected golden spikes, which were used on the coats of arms of cities associated with crop

farming or the grain trade. The 1883 coat of arms was also not directly representative and its figures

non-heraldic.

Baku's coats of arms during this period certainly helped in forming an image for the city and

the changes in the city's heraldry underlined its growing significance within the Russian Empire.

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The emblem of Baku city at present

Emblem of Baku City consists of right-angled shield-shaped board bottom of which is in form

of sharp angle. Each part of the shield is bordered with 6-mm golden stripe.

Main measures of emblem: width – 100 mm, height – 140 mm.

The emblem has a blue background (the symbol of peace and free sky) with

three golden tongues of flames of equal size (symbol of land of fire). Height of each

tongue of flame is 37 mm, width 26 mm.

In the bottom part of the emblem there is a vertical black-colored line, reminding

about the presence of oil and occupying approximately 1/10 of the shield. The remaining part of the

shield is occupied with turquoise sea waves.

There are three lines of 5 golden waves in turquoise background. Every wave measures 17, 6

mm.

On the buildings and monuments the emblem is framed in bottom of the board in form of bas-

relief with 3 tongues of flames in centre.

Emblem in medals and honor diplomas is framed with olive (symbol of fame) branches from

right and left. Branches are crossed in bottom.

All proportions are observed in medals, honor diplomas, other documents and things

reflecting the emblem; scale of the description is defined respective of the need.

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History of Baku city Executive Power

On 16 June 1870 Russian emperor decreed on foundation of the city self-governing bodies –

dumas and municipality councils in Russia. According to that decree, municipality councils were

organized in all big cities of Russia and elections started to create dumas. This decree’s performance

in Baku started 8 years later only and it was linked to the reason as if other nations do not possess

yet the capacity of self-government.

Only in 1878 Duma elections started in Baku. Members of first Duma were 72, later they were

75. Members of Duma were called ‘glasny’.

According to the decree, number of

Azerbaijanis could not exceed half of total

number of Duma members. Those aged

above 25, possessing immovable property

or commercial or industrial enterprises

estimated in 1500 manat could be elected

to Duma. Municipality councils were

considered executive bodies. Duma was

legislative body. It was Duma’s right to decide establishment of the city economy and

implementation of this decision was fulfilled by the municipality council.

At the time Hasan bey Zerdabi and teacher Hebib bey Mahmudbeyov were elected glasny to

Duma not as possessor of property but as custodian of rich family lost head. Decree allowed

election of custodians of rich families to Duma. Baku Duma was located at the building in current

Youth Square (there is garden in place of that building at present). In 1905 it moved to the building

in Istiglaliyyet Street (current building of Baku Council). Date of issue of the Decree – 1870 has been

engraved on its front.

Duma sittings were held in Russian. That is why the glasny not fluent in Russian were

sleeping in the sitting. Often addressing the sittings Hasan bey Zerdabi was criticizing the anarchy,

untidiness, bribery in the city, demanding opening of new schools in the city, free education for

poor children, serious help to education affairs. Glasny Rasulov also was regularly giving speeches

in Russian.

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The Baku rich H.Z.Tagiyev, Musa Nagiyev, Shemsi Asadullayev, Ejder bey Ashurbeyov,

Agabala Guliyev and others were elected glasny in all times.

Name of the organization ruling Baku, which became capital of the province since 1860:

Baku City Duma, founded in 1870, one of the richest departments of Russian empire.

Executive Committee of Baku City Laborer Deputies Council – 1939-1977

Executive Committee of Baku City National Deputies Council – 1977-1991

Baku City Executive Power – 1991-till present

Baku City Executive Power is located at 4, Istiglaliyyet Street, Baku City.

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History of Baku

People have lived and founded their settlements in Baku city and the Absheron peninsula

since ancient times. This was motivated by continuous migrations from north to south and from

west to east due to the physical and geographical conditions, a favorable location in the center

of trade routes that crossed Silk Road,

climatic conditions, production of

petroleum fuel in ancient times and the

availability of large power resources.

The Egyptian Pharaoh Minesan

first mentioned Baku in the Book of the

Dead in 3,500 BC. Stone carvings dating

back to 12,000 years ago and

archeological excavations also evidence the ancient age of Baku. Another important piece of

evidence is a stone carving by August Guy Octavio, who reflected the stationing of a military camp

under the rule of the Roman emperors Pompey and Lucius near Baku (40 km to the south) for the

purposes of seizing the southern Caucasus in the 1st century BC. The history of Baku reflects many

of the milestones of Azerbaijan history and can be traced back to before the Common Era. This

means that Baku is nearly 5,500 years old.

Baku was the capital of Shirvan (twice, during the reign of Akhsitan I and Khalilullah I), Baku

khanate, Russian Baku governorate, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan SSR and finally

the capital of modern Azerbaijan. The fortified city suffered, in turn, Mongol, Safavid, Ottoman and

Russian invasions. In the second half of the 19th century an oil boom led to a major revival of the

city. Baku was the place where the world's first oil well was drilled, the world's first paraffin factory

built and the world's first oil platform established. The city was once captured by Turkish troops in

World War I, but never during World War II. However, shortly after World War I, Baku was

captured by Bolsheviks and, along with the surrounding area, was incorporated into the Soviet

Union. During World War II, the growing demand for oil pushed Baku oil workers to reach record

levels of extraction 23,482 million tons.

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On the etymology of the name “Baku”

Debates are still going on in connection with the etymology of the word “Baku”, as well as the

exact age of the city. For instance, the English archeologist Sir William Flinders Petrie suggests that

the words “Bakhay” denoting “the mountain of Bakhou of the rising Sun” written in the Egyptian

Book of the Dead in the 2nd millenium

BC refer to Baku. Some scholars

relate Baku with the names

Gaytara, Albana, Baruka

mentioned in the ancient sources. In

the sources dating back to the V-VIII

centuries AD it is referred to as

Bagavan, Ateshi Baguvan. In the

Arabian sources the words “Baku”, “Bakukh”, “Bakuya”, “Bakuye” are first encountered beginning

from the IX century. Later in the European sources the name of the city is encountered as “Baga”,

“Baki”, Bakkhi”, and in the Russian sources as “Baka”. Beginning from the XVIII century Baku is

mentioned in the Persian sources as “Bardkube”. This word consists of two Persian words: “bard”

meaning “wind” and “kube” -“to blow”, that is “(the city) where the wind blows”. Apparently the

city was called so by some authors because of the strong winds blowing in Baku. At present in the

Azerbaijani language the name of the city is used as “Baki”.

There is no one single opinion related to the etymology of the word “Baku”, and different

assumptions are used in different sources. Here are some of the available versions.

Prof. Sara Ashurbayli, the leading specialist in this sphere thinks that the word dates back to

Zoroastrianism and is derived from the word “baga” which means “the Sun”, “the God” in a

number of ancient languages.

The Turkish “Islamic Encyclopedia” presents the origin of the word “Baku” as being derived

from the words “Bey-Kyoy” which mean “the main city” in Turkish.

According to the version of the scientist-specialist in the Caucasian studies K.P.Patkanov, the

name “Baku” originates from the Lak word “bak” meaning “a hill” as Baku is situated on the hills.

Ali Huseinzada, the historian also confirms that the word “Baki” is encountered in the popular

Turkish dictionary of the XI century compiled by Mahmud Kashgari in the meaning of “a hill”.

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Some scholars consider Baku as an ethnotoponym that is a name formed from the names of

the ancient tribes “bakan” or “bagi” inhabited in Absheron in the XII-V centuries BC.

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Antiquity

The history of the city of Baku goes back to the great antiquity, though the exact date of its rise

is not known up to now. The territory of the

Absheron Peninsula where the city is situated

enjoys a favorable geographical position, a

convenient bay, a warm, dry climate, a fertile soil,

natural minerals, and therefore the emergence of

the ancient settlements here is quite natural. The

district of Gobustan is to the southwest of modern

Baku by the Caspian Sea. Here in the vast space

were pastured numerous herds of animals the images of which are fixed on the rocks of the

neighboring mountains. The pictures dating back to 8 millenniums reflect different hunting scenes,

ceremonial and ritual processes of the ancient dwellers of these places.

Noteworthy is the Latin inscription of the 80s-90s of

our era found at the foot of the mountain of Boyukdash in

Gobustan which runs, “The time of Emperor Domitianus

Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Lucius Julius Maxim, and

Centurion XII of the Lightning Legion”. And the name of

the settlement of Ramana or Romana in the vicinity of

Baku perhaps also speaks of the Roman troops’ stay in

Absheron in the I century. The Roman troops’ distribution in Gobustan indicates the presence of a

large settlement or city in the vicinity, which might have been Baku at that time towards which the

Roman troops must have made for.

The discovered rock carvings in Bailovo and a bronze figure of a small fish in the Inner City

approve the existence of the Bronze Age settlement within the city territory. In the 6th century BC

the temple of fire worshippers Ateshi-Baguan was constructed within the modern city area. The

earliest numismatic evidence, the Abbasid coin, concerns the 8th century.

In the Life of apostle Bartholomew Baku is identified as Alban. Some historians assume that

Baku during the existence of Caucasian Albania was called Albanopolis. The local church legend

specifies also a place of the martyr death of Bartholomew, at the bottom of the Maiden Tower

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within the Inner City where according to historical data on the basis of the pagan temple Arta a

Christian church was built. At the same time Baku became a major center of the ancient

Zoroastrism. Sasanid shah Ardashir I ordered "to keep an inextinguishable fire of the god Ormazd"

in the city temples.

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Middle Ages

Baku was mentioned at least four times in the early Middle Ages, by historians Masudi-

Abdul-Hussein, Istahri-Abu Iskhak, Muhammad Bekran and Abu Dulafin. Manuchekhr's son

Akhsitan I in 1175 managed to repel probably the first Russian assault on the vicinity of Baku and

created a strong fleet in the Baku Bay. To defend

Baku from the coastal side the Sabail Castle, which is

presently under the water, was built in 1232-1235.

However during the third Mongol campaign in Azerbaijan (1231-1239), led by Hulagu Khan Baku

was occupied within the whole Shirvan state.

Marco Polo indicated that oil from Baku was being exported to the Near Eastern countries.

The ships belonging to the Italian merchants from Genoa and Venice arrived in the Baku port while

the city traded with the Golden Horde, the Moscow Princedom and European countries. From the

13th century a mint place was set working. In the second half of 14th century the Caspian Sea was

sometimes referred to as the Baku Sea. It is also underlined in the atlas published in 1375 in Catalan

language.

In 1501 Safavid shah Ismail I laid a siege to Baku. The besieged inhabitants fought with

fortitude, relying on the impregnability of their fortification. Having seen the reluctance of the

besieged to surrender Ismail ordered to undermine the part of the wall. Finally the fortress's

defense was broken and many inhabitants have been annihilated. In 1538 shah Takhmasib put a

final end to the Shirvanshahs' reign and united the entire country including Baku under the Safavid

state. In 1540 Baku was again captured by the Safavid troops and in 1604 the city fortress was

destroyed by Safavid shah Abbas I.

In 1636 German diplomat and traveler Adam Olearius described Baku's 30 oil fields noting

that there was a greater quantity of the brown oil. In 1647 Baku visited a Turkish traveler Evliya

Chelebi. In April, 1660 Cossacks under Stepan Razin attacked the Baku coast and plundered the

village of Mashtaga. In 1683 Baku was visited by the ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden

Engelbert Kaempfer. In the next year Baku was temporarily recaptured by the Ottoman Empire.

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Russian Empire

In 1803 Sisianov reached an agreement with the Baku khan to compromise. The khan even

swore an oath of citizenship to Russia, but the

agreement was soon annulled. At the beginning

of 1806 marching with a big army Sisianov

united with General Zavalishin’s fleet at 2 verst

distance of Baku and restarted to conduct

negotiations with the Baku khan on the

surrender of the city. In a reply to the refusal on

capitulation the city was exposed to firing of the

marine flotilla after which the ruler of Baku Huseingulu khan gave his consent to surrender the city.

On February 8, 1806 under the accompaniment of the retinue Huseingulu khan of Baku left the city

to present the city’s keys to Sisianov. When Sisianov accepted the keys he and Prince Elizbar Erstov

standing next to him were suddenly killed by two people from among the retinue. Sisianov’s body

was chopped on the spot by the citizens of Baku who had run out of the fortress. After this his head

was sent to Fatali Shah in Iran and his body was buried in front of the Shamakhy gates where his

murder had taken place. Having heard of Sisianov’s death the Russian army retreated. But this

murder only put off the city’s capture. On October 3, 1806 General Bulgakov’s forces captured Baku

without striking a blow the Baku Khanate was annexed to Russia. Huseingulu khan of Baku fled to

Iran.

In addition the Gulustan treaty signed between Russia and Iran in 1813 legalized the

annexation of the Baku khanate to the Russian empire. However, the treaty did not solve all the

Russian-Iranian contradictions. And the former Baku khan did not give up his hope to return to the

power. In July 1826 when the Iranian army invaded the boundary of Northern Azerbaijan a

detachment headed by Huseingulu khan made for Baku and sieged the city. He was actively

supported by the inhabitants of Baku and its neighboring villages that revolted against the

Russians. But the defeat of the Iranian army as well as the action of the Russian army directed

against the Baku khan, forced the latter to return to Iran in October 1826. With the termination of

the last Russian-Iranian war in 1828 the Turkmanchay treaty was signed which divided Azerbaijan

between Russia and Iran along the river Araks and officially annexed the occupied areas including

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Baku to Russia. That was a national tragedy; however the treaty contributed to the termination of

wars in the region and its further development.

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Oil Boom

In 1823 the world's first paraffin factory was built in the city and in 1846 the world's first oil

well was drilled in Bibi-Heybat. In 1863 Javad Melikov from Baku has built the first kerosene

factory. In 1873 the Russian government offered free competition for plots of land and Baku was

caught the eye of the Nobel brothers. In 1882

Ludvig Nobel invited more technical staff to

Baku from Finland, Sweden, Norway and

Germany and founded a colony that he called

Villa Petrolea, located in what was then and

still is called the "Black City". Up to the end

of 70s years of the XIXth century the oil has

been transported by the bullock-cart drivers in wineskins or flanks. In 1883 a Rothschild's

plenipotentiary arrived from Paris to Baku and created the "Caspian-Black Sea Joint-Stock

Company". Meanwhile the increasing number of Baku oil magnates included Musa Nagiyev,

Murtuza Mukhtarov, Shamsi Asadullayev, Seid Mirbabayev and many others.

The companies owned by Musa Nagiyev and Shamsi Asadullayev were the largest Baku oil

producers. Established in Baku respectively in 1887 and 1893 they produced between 7-12 million

poods of oil annually. The companies owned oil fields, distilleries and tankers. In the beginning of

the next century more than hundred oil firms operated in Baku.

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The Pre-Revolutionary Period

The second half of the XIXth century was highlighted by an intensive communication

development. In 1868 the first telegraph line to Tiflis was established and in 1879 an under-sea

telegraph line connected Baku with Krasnovodsk. In the same year the first railway in Azerbaijan,

Baku-Sabunchi-Surakhany has set working. The railway measuring 520 versts, from Tiflis was

finished in a short term, on May 8, 1883. In 1886 the first telephone line was enabled. In 1899 the

first horse tramway appeared.

In the 70s the number of

administrative and public institutions has

grown, among them a provincial court and

arbitration. In the first years of the 20th

century a case considerations in the district

court has won a greater popularity and

lawyers from Petersburg, Moscow, Tiflis

and Kiev, involved by fabulous fees, often

got over here.

In the beginning of October, 1883 tsar Alexander III with the wife and two sons, accompanied

by a huge retinue, arrived to Baku from Tiflis. The railway station has been prepared for the solemn

ceremony. The population authorized Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev to welcome Alexander. The

visitors have examined oil storage of Nobel brothers, the pump station and three powerful oil wells

of Shamsi Asadullayev. Beginning from the 1890s, Baku provided 95% of the oil production in the

Russian Empire and approximately half of world oil production. Within ten years the city had

become the foremost producer of oil overtaking. In August, 1894 Nariman Narimanov established

in Baku the Azerbaijan's first library and reading room. In the same year the city's first water

distiller was put into operation.

In 1914-1917 Baku produced 7 million tons of oil each year, totaling 28 million, 683 thousand

tons of oil, which constituted 15% of world production the time. Germany did not trust Turkey in

oil matters and transferred General Kress von Kressenstein from the Middle Eastern front and sent

him with his troops to Georgia in order to enter Baku, through Ukraine, the Black Sea and Georgia.

Great Britain in February, 1918 urgently sent General Lionel Dunsterville with troops to Baku

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through Anzali to close the way for German troops. Having studied the Caucasus from the strategic

point of view Dunsterville concluded: "Those who capture Baku, will control the sea. That's why it

was necessary for us to invade this city". On August 23, 1918 Lenin in his telegram to Tashkent

wrote: "Germans agree to attack Baku provided that we would kick the British out of Baku". Having

been defeated in World War I Turkey had to withdraw its forces from the borders of Azerbaijan in

the middle of November, 1918. Headed by General William Thomson, the English troops of 5,000

soldiers arrived in Baku on November 17 and a martial law was implemented on the capital of

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic until "the civil power would be strong enough to release the forces

from the responsibility to maintain the public order".

In the same year Thompson was faced with an enormous challenge to recreate confidence in

the economy. His fundamental requirement was to recreate a sound and reliable banking system.

He wrote, however: "the political situation in Baku does not permit the opening of a British Bank

because this would have increased suspicion and jealousy as to British intentions."

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Soviet Baku

In 1917, after the October revolution and amidst the turmoil of World War I and the breakup

of the Russian Empire, Baku came under the control of the Baku Commune, which was led by

dashnak - Stepan Shaumyan (Armenian origin). From March 30 to April 3, 1918, forces of the

Bolshevik Baku Soviet, aided by armed militia of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation

(Dashnaktsutiun), carried out brutal attacks on the Muslim quarters of Baku city massacring,

according to the New York Times, close to 12,000 Azerbaijani civilians. The four days of carnage,

known in Western historical references as the March Days, unraveled a wave of mass killings

committed by the forces of Baku Soviet and Dashnak militia in other parts of Azerbaijan from April

through August 1918.

Historically remembered by Azerbaijanis as a Soyqırım (an Azeri Turkic term for genocide),

the March Days of 1918 set the stage for other massacres committed against Azerbaijani people

throughout the 20th century. March 31 was designated officially as a Day of Azerbaijani Genocide.

On May 28, 1918 the Azerbaijani

fraction of the Transcaucasian Seim

proclaimed the independent Azerbaijan

Democratic Republic (ADR) in Ganja.

Shortly after, Azerbaijani forces, with

support of the Ottoman Army of Islam led

by Nuru Pasha, started their advance onto

Baku, and liberated the city from the coalition of Bolsheviks, Essers, Dashnaks, Mensheviks and the

British forces under the command of General Dunsterville on September 15, 1918. Baku became the

capital of ADR.

In the February, 1920 the 1st congress of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan illegally took

place in Baku and made a decision about preparation of the armed revolt. On April 27 of the same

year the units of the Russian 11th Red Army crossed the border of Azerbaijan and began to march

towards Baku. The Soviet Russia presented the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with an ultimatum

to surrender and the troops entered Baku and captured the city next day. The city became a capital

of the Azerbaijan SSR and underwent many major changing.

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As a result Baku played a great role in many branches of the Soviet life. Since 1921 the city

was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as

Bakgorispolkom. On February 8, 1924

the first tram line and two years later

the electric railway Baku-Surakhany,

the first one in the USSR, started to

operate. While being in Baku in May,

1925 Russian poet Sergei Yesenin wrote

a verse "Farewell to Baku! I'll see you no

more: A sorrow and fright are now in

the soul: And a heart under the hand is

more painful and closer: And I feel the

simple word "friend" more distinctly. However Yesenin returned to the city on July 28 of the same

year. Maxim Gorkiy wrote after visiting Baku: "The oil fields remained in my memory as a perfect

picture of the grave hell. This picture suppressed all the fantastic ideas of depressed mind, I was

aware of". Well-known at that time industrialist V. Rogozin noted, in relation with the Baku oil

fields, that everything there was done "without counting and calculating". In 1940 22, 2 million tons

of oil was extracted in Baku which comprised nearly 72% of all the oil extracted in the entire USSR.

In 1941 the trolley bus line started to operate in the city, meanwhile the first buses appeared in

Baku in 1928.

The US Ambassador to France, W. Bullitt, dispatched a telegram to Washington concerning

"the possibilities of bombing and demolition of Baku" which were being discussed in Paris at the

time. Charles de Gaulle was extremely critical of the plan according to both his wartime and

postwar statements. Such ideas, he believed, were made by some "crazy heads that were thinking

more of how to destroy Baku than of resisting Berlin". In his report submitted on February 22, 1940

to French Prime Minister General Maurice Gamelin believed the Soviets would fall into crisis if

those sources were lost. However during the Soviet-German War ten defense zones were built

around the city to prevent possible German invasion Werth, Alexander. Russia at War 1941-1945,

planned within the Operation Edelweiss. Even a cake for Hitler was adorned by a map of the

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Caspian Sea with the letters B-A-K-U spelled out in chocolate cream. After eating the cake Hitler

said: "Unless we get Baku oil, the war is lost".

The first oil platform in the world, originally called "The Black Rocks," was built in 1947

within the city's metropolitan area. In 1960 the first Caucasus house-building plant was built in

Baku and on December 25, 1975 the only plant producing air-conditioners in the Soviet Union was

turned over for operation. In 1964-1968 the level of oil extraction rose to the stable level and

comprised about 21 million tons per year. By the 1970s Azerbaijan became one of the largest

producers of grapes and a champagne factory was subsequently constructed in Baku. In 1981 a

record quantity of 15 billion m3 of gas was extracted in Baku.

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The architectural monuments of Baku and Absheron peninsula

Old city (Icheri Sheher) in Baku

Baku's "Ichari Shahar" (literally, Inner City), often referred to by foreigners as the "Old City",

is a unique architectural preserve that differs considerably from the other ancient cities of

Azerbaijan. Ichari Shahar has many fascinating architectural monuments, including the Maiden's

Tower and the Shirvanshah Palace.

Inner City, Outer City According to the archeological evidence, the city of Baku dates back to

at least the early

centuries AD. After

1538, Baku served as

the capital of the

khanate of

Shirvanshah after

Shamakhi, a city 1.5

hours north of Baku,

sustained a major

earthquake. That's

when the Shirvan

Shahs moved their capital to Baku.

from 1747 to 1806, Baku was the capital of a khanate that included Baku itself and 39

neighboring villages. This independent principality was called "Badkube" (i.e. wind-beaten), "City

of Winds", and coined its own money.

During this period, the entire city was located inside the fortress walls and had a population

of approximately 7,000 people. After the Russians occupied the city in 1806, and especially during

the first Oil Boom of 1850-1920, Baku grew rapidly beyond its fortified walls. This is when the

expressions "Ichari Shahar" (Inner City) and "Bayir Shahar" (Outer City) first came into use.

Huseingulu Sarabski writes: "Baku was divided into two sections: Ichari Shahar and Bayir Shahar.

The Inner City was the main part. Those who lived in the Inner City were considered natives of

Baku. They were in close proximity to everything: the bazaar, craftsmen's workshops and mosques.

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There was even a church there, as well as a military barracks built during the Russian occupation."

Residents who lived inside the walls considered themselves to be superior to those outside and

often referred to them as the "barefooted people of the Outer City."

The Inner City consists of many small sections that are demarcated by winding lanes and

narrow streets. Originally, each section, or block, was named after a neighboring mosque: Juma

Mosque Block, Shal Mosque Block, Mohammadyar Mosque Block, Haji Gayib Mosque Block,

Siniggala Mosque Block, Gasimbey Mosque Block and so forth.

Some of the sections of the Inner City and their mosques were named after the clans and

nationalities that lived there. For instance, Gilaklar was the place where the merchants from Gilan

stayed; Lezgilar was the street where the Dagestani armorers and gunsmiths lived. Most of the

Inner City's residents were craftsmen, merchants or seamen. Some of the sections took their names

from certain professions, such as Hamamchilar (Bathhouse Owners), Bazarlar (Cloth Traders) and

Hakkakchilar (Stone Engravers).

Back in 1806, there were 707 shops and craftsmen workshops in the city, even though the total

population was only 7,000. Every merchant and skilled craftsman had his own store. Their

customers were the traders who came to Baku from various countries. Baku ships carried goods to

and from Iran, Central Asia and Russia.

Icheri sheher today

Having entered Icheri Sheher's through the gate from Sabir Square, one can visit the house of

At-Agha, who was ESP-gifted and could

heal people. Baku residents even know,

after At-Agha's death, think the house to be

a sacred place and come here with hopes to

have their wants come true.

The air of the Old City has always

been attracting artists; there are many

studios and exhibition galleries as the

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Centre of Azerbaijan Miniatures and "Gala", "Gyz Galasi", "Absheron" and "Baku" picture galleries,

which regularly gather art lovers.

Vagif Mustafazadeh, a famous Azerbaijani musician and the founder of jazz-mugham, which

has been a new school in music, was born, grew and lived his short life in the Old City. His House-

Museum is here nowadays. In one of Icheri Sheher's narrow streets, there is a unique Museum of

Miniature Books, whose collections has more than 5,300 books published in 60 countries, their size

being from 100mm:100mm to 2mm:2mm. Academic institutions, the Centre of Archeology and "the

Encyclopedia", are situated here as well.

In the fort labyrinths, the versatility of old-architecture masterpieces, exotic for tourists, is

mixed with modern buildings, where the Greek, Italian, Norwegian and Polish embassies and local

offices of foreign companies and international organizations are located.

One can buy exotic souvenirs, copper dishes, rugs and other carpet products in Icheri Sheher's

numerous antique shops.

Holding Icheri Sheher's Day Festival, including a set of events

to attract public attention to this ancient architecture site and revive

national traditions, has become a tradition within the framework of

the Project of supporting Azerbaijan's cultural legacy. For the

festival time, Icheri Sheher magically appears a medieval city, in

whose streets one can meet a merchant with a loaded camel, watch

dramatic performances and visit various exhibitions of applied arts,

national clothes and dishes.

In modern Baku, Icheri Sheher seems a small active island

enclosed in legendary fort walls. Local residents are still living in houses built from the rise of the

fort till nowadays, in narrow medieval streets.

For centuries, Icheri Sheher's natives have had their unique mode-of-life, including its values

and the world outlook, an original code of honor, certain activities and even entertainments such as

"meykhana" or sport exercising in special premises, where "pekhlevans" could wrestle. Therein,

Icheri Sheher's each block had its own name: "Aghshalvarlilar" (People in White Trousers),

Garashalvarlilar (People in Black Trousers), "Kosalar" (the Beardless), "Bozbashyeyanlar" ("Bozbash"

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(a national food) Lovers, "Elichomakhlilar" (People with Whips), Bij-Zeynalabdin (Cheater

Zeynalabdin) etc.

Plunging into the narrow streets and lanes of the Old City, one can see completely European

facades next to mosques, baths and houses with ancient ornaments. It could be easily called an

open-air museum, among whose walls the unique sites of ancient Azerbaijan history and culture of

different epochs, such as Shirvanshahs' Palace, the Maiden's Tower, Sinig-Gala, mosques, baths, the

Multani and Bukhari caravanserais and others, are concentrated.

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The Ensemble of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace

The Shirvanshahs’ Palace ensemble is the biggest monument of the Shirvan-Absheron branch

of the Azerbaijani architecture. In the XV century following the rise of economic and political

importance of Baku, which was

one of the strongly fortified

fortresses and the main port in

the Caspian, Khalulullah, the

Shah of Shirvan, transferred the

Shirvanshahs’ residence from

Shamakhy to Baku. In

connection with the flood of the

Sabail fortress the construction

of a new palace was carried out in a new safe place on the top of the Baku hill. The ensemble was

not built according to a single architectural project and consists of a range of constructions located

in accordance with the relief on three levels: the main building of the palace (the 1420s),

Divankhana (the 1450s), the burial-vaults – (1435), the shah’s mosque with a minaret (1441), Seyid

Yahya Bakuvi’s mausoleum (the 1450s) and the remnants of the Keyguba mosque. The palace

constructions include a portal in the east – Murad’s gate (1585), a reservoir and the remnants of the

bath-house. According to some data to the north-east of the palace building there formerly used to

be the shah’s stables, but at present there are living houses in this place. To the north of Divankhana

in one of the living houses one can see the foundation of the surviving ancient wall, the laying of

which is similar to the laying of the palace facade. This seems to be the remnants of the laying of the

buildings belonging to the palace ensemble.In 1964 the complex was declared a museum-reserve

and was taken under the state protection.

The Palace Building

The Shirvanshahs’ palace ensemble was not built on the basis of a single architectural project.

However, taking into consideration the purpose of each building its builders contributed to the

formation of an architectural landscape with their location.

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The palace, the main building of the Ensemble which is the earliest of all the palace

constructions was built almost within ten years according to

the historians – architects. This is the biggest building of the

complex both for its dimensions and for the area it occupies.

Its construction was started in 1411 by Shirvanshah Sheykh

Ibrahim I, Tamerlane’s ally. But after his death his son

Shirvanshah Khalilullah I who was said to be married to

Khanika, Tamerlane’s great-granddaughter continued his work.

The two-storey building of the palace numbers about 50 different dimensions and outlines of

the constructions connected with 3 narrow winding staircases. The big lancet portal directly leads

from the courtyard to the second floor, into a high octahedral

lodging covered with a cupola. A small, also an octagonal

vestibule, located behind it, connects it with the rest of the

lodgings in the palace. A crack-like inlet in the bays of the

octahedral lodging served as a means of communication with

the lower floor. Only 16 out of 25 rooms on the second floor

have survived. The lower floor of the building with 27 rooms

served to house the servants and to store the household

reserves. It has remained as well as it was built in the XV century. The austerity of the front

courtyard of the main façade differs from a richer treatment of the buildings of the other courtyards.

The laconic forms, the sunny tones of the smooth surfaces of the walls, the patterned network of the

upper windows and window-inlets of the lower floor give a unique expressiveness to the image of

the building. The excavations of the rooms on the first floor showed that the palace stands on the

rock and below it in the antiquity before the construction of the palace there was a large

construction with the foundation of its walls wedging in the foundation of the palace.

Before the Shirvanshahs’ Palace became a museum-reserve it had had to witness in its time a

lot of good and sad events. Thus during the Safavis’ occupation of Baku in 1501 the palace became

subject to devastation. The entire treasure of the Shirvanshahs - weapons, armour, jewellery,

carpets, expensive clothing materials, rare books from the palace library, gold and silverware - was

taken away to Tabriz by the Safavis. But after the Chaldiran battle in 1514 between the Turkish

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armies under the command of Salim I (the son of the conqueror of Constantinople Mahammad II)

and the Safavis which ended in the latter’s defeat, the Turks got the treasure of the Shirvanshahs’

Palace as a trophy. Today a part of it decorates the museum collections of Turkey, Iran, England,

France, Russia and Hungary. Thus the Istanbul museum keeps Khalilullah I’s chain armour made in

1424 and two helmets belonging to Farrukh Yasar - his son who was his heir among his five

surviving sons. Several carpets of the palace were found in the Museum of Albert and Victoria in

London, and the ancient volumes of the royal library are in the book depositories of Tehran, Vatican

and Petersburg.

In his book “Travel

Notes” the Turkish

traveller Evliya Chalabi

writes that the Turkish

commander Mustafa Lala

Pasha “brought back the

roof, the cupola and the

window frames with the

glasses of a beautiful

building with him” on leaving Baku occupied by him in 1585, “and presented them as a gift to

Sultan who erected out of them in the garden “Sultaniye Gasri Humayun” a royal castle rousing

amazement for its beautiful view.” The above-mentioned cupola with the tile cover was possibly

from the roof of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace.

The Shirvanshahs’ Palace suffered during the bombardment by the Russian squadron from

the sea in 1723, during the liberation of the city by the Persian troops and during the seizure of Baku

by the Russian army in 1806. After Baku’s annexation to the Russian Empire the palace was

transferred to the tsarist military department which bossed here almost for a century. The Shah’s

chambers on the second floor were turned into soldiers’ barracks and the lodgings below them into

a stable, arsenal; somebody has painted over the stone paintings in the portal of the burial-vault in

green and the shah’s mosque was almost turned into a garrison church at the desire of the Russian

military authorities. The military personnel repaired the palace partially and at the same time they

adjusted the palace buildings to the arsenals. During the reconstruction the cupolas were destroyed

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and part of the walls dividing the rooms on the first and second floors was pulled down. The

remnants of the cupola, lancet and cruciform ceilings were destroyed and replaced by flat girder

ceilings. Some window openings were installed, but the window frames cut in the stone were

destroyed. An entry was constructed to the second floor of the north façade of the palace, and a big

aperture was made in the wall so that the two-wheeled carts with harnessed horses could drive up

straight onto the second floor of the palace from the street. The blue glazed mosaic plasterer of the

vaults and cupolas was destroyed. The slots of the bullets are still preserved on the walls, which is

the result of the soldiers shooting training.

At the end of the XIX century the military commissariat played a role of a saviour of the entire

ensemble willy-nilly. While selecting a site for the construction of Alexandre Nevski’s cathedral the

choice fell on the territory occupied by the complex of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace. It was only due to

the circumstances that the military had nowhere to go that saved the architectural monument from

a complete destruction. In 1920 again the stables, the arsenals, the soldiers’ barracks of the

“glorious” XI Red Army of workers and peasants including an infirmary were placed in the palace.

All around was in a miserable desolation, therefore a large group of eminent Azerbaijani

historians and archaeologists had to appeal to the leadership of the Azerbaijani Revolutionary

Committee with a special letter in the name of the rescue of this unique Medieval archaeological

monument. Only following all this, cleaning and restoration work started in the complex. At the

very end of the 20s the Museum of Azerbaijani History was registered in the cold, wet lodgings

with worn out roofings in the palace which housed it in 1920s-1930s.

The palace is in need of a serious restoration. The restorations of the palace complex in 1920s,

1930s or 1950s were carried out at random, unprofessionally and unsystematically. Since 1992 a new

restoration work has started in the building of the palace.

Divankhana

The main building of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace adjoins

Divankhana, a small fine pavilion situated inside a small yard

surrounded by a gallery-arcade on three sides. The Divankhana

pavilion consists of an octahedral hall covered with a stone cupola

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both inside and outside. It adjoins a rectangular apartment of the vestibule. Inside the apartment the

vestibule is linked with the entrances into the

gallery-arcade, into the hall and beneath the

floor of the hall into an octahedral chamber

under which there is a second chamber of a

rectangular shape in the dungeon as an entrance

of which serves an opening on the ground level

to the north side. In the rock serving as a basis

for the second chamber there is a mouth of a

five-metre deep well. The functional purpose of these two chambers as well as that of the entire

apartment remains unknown as a whole.

The well-proportioned high portal of the main entrance is decorated with an ornament and

inscriptions of extraordinary refinement and beauty. The ornament pictures the interlacing fig and

vine leaves. Besides this, the portal is decorated with two medallions inside of which there are

inscriptions in the Arabic language in graphic print of Cufa. To an unfamiliar viewer it seems only

as a mere ornament.

The architectural composition and planning of Divankhana are original and do not have

analogues in the other Oriental countries. The construction of Divankhana was

not finished which is testified by the incompleteness of the ornamentation of

the capitals and the bases of the colonnade and other details of the building.

The construction of the building might have been stopped in connection with

the military developments of 1500-1501. The features of the style and the partial

incompleteness of the decoration work date Divankhana back to the end of the

XV century.

There are different opinions related to the purpose of Divankhana. Some

think that it was a trial place, justice being carried out in its cupola hall with a

round opening in the middle of the stone floor. Following the pronouncement of death sentence the

head of the criminal was chopped off by an executioner directly above that opening, and the body

of the executed was floated into the sea through certain underground channels.

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Others suggest that it served for legal proceedings, receptions or state councils or was a

mausoleum. In the XIII-XV centuries the financial department was headed by a sahib-divan. The

Divankhana pavilion under the domination of the Shirvanshahs might have been the lodging of the

sahib-divan, of his functionaries and the treasury itself. The mysterious opening in the cupola,

covering the chamber, coming out in the centre of the octahedral hall was apparently made later,

perhaps during the developments of 1501, during the seizure of the city by the Safavis and the

ravage of the palace in search of the treasury. The Safavis were said to have discovered a lot of gold

and valuables in the cupola of the pavilion.

A mausoleum version is also possible. This is proved by the existence of a two-chamber vault

in its dungeon and Surah from the Koran on the portal of the entrance: “The God calls to the abode

of the world and leads whomever he desires to a true path… This is the abode of the paradise

where they stay forever.” It is curious that in the surviving legends the entire territory of

Divankhana, especially the underground chamber with a well called a milky well was considered a

holy place where the women who had lost their milk were healed. The territory occupied by

Divankhana and the palace must have been a holy place back in the pre-Islamic period.

The Shirvanshahs’ Burial-vault

The family burial-vault of the Shirvanshahs is of a rectangular shape and crowned with a

hexahedral cupola which is decorated from outside with multi-

radial stars. In the past the planes of the cupola’s hollows were

bricked with blue glaze. This is also confirmed by I. Lerkh, the

traveller, visiting Baku in 1733. He points out, “The roof (burial-

vault) was covered with stones of azure colour.”

The inscription on the entrance doorway indicates the purpose

of the building, “Khalil-Ullah I, the greatest Soltan, Great

Shirvanshah, the namesake of the divine prophet, the defender of

the religion ordered to construct this light burial-vault for his

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mother and son in the year of 839” (1435-1436). On the pointer of the entrance doorway there is a

hexahedral rosette with the name of Ali reiterated 12 times. An inscription from the Koran,

glorifying Allah crowns the top of the portal.

On 2 drop-shaped medallions in the flannel parts of the portal there are inscriptions with the

architect’s name – Memar (architect) Ali. On each medallion one and the same inscription is

repeated twice: in a direct and mirror reflection. With great art and skill did the architect cut on the

shah’s burial-vault his own name which had remained unknown for long years and was read only

in 1945 by the Azerbaijani scholars.

The centre of the building is a sepulchral place with a cupola. According to some sources in

1501 after Shirvanshah Farrukh Yassar’s death, Shah Ismayil’s troops captured the fortress of Baku

and committed the remains of the deceased in the burial-vault to the flames. The archaeologists’

work in 1945 refuted this version. A vault with 5 burials covered with tombstones was discovered

under the wooden floor of the burial-vault. It was made known that in three tombs there had been

buried adults and in the two others - children. As the work continued in the burial-vault a more

number of untouched tombs were found out which totalled 14. These burial-places were the graves

of the family members of the Shirvanshahs. The tombs turned out to be intact, but the tombstones

were missing.

The archaeological work confirmed the existing inscriptions by proving that here were buried

Bika khanym – Shirvanshah Khalil-Ullah’s mother and his son, and the other members of the family

too. During the clearing of the burials were found the remains of the material (tirma) with the traces

of geometrical ornament, with medallions within which were woven inscriptions in the Arabic

print, several blue beads, a gold pin with a turquoise and 6 rubies, gold earrings. At present these

materials are kept in the funds of the History Museum of Azerbaijan.

The Palace Mosque

The Palace Mosque is situated in the lower court of the complex. The laconicism of its

prismatic volumes, completed with two slightly pointed cupolas, is shaded by a well-proportioned

vertical line of the minaret rising above in the north-eastern corner of the building. There are 2

chapels for prayers in the mosque: a hall of a large size for men and a hall of a small size for women,

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also a couple of small subsidiary rooms where one can climb up the winding stone staircase. All

these apartments are inscribed into a rectangle of the scheme out of which only the women’s chapel

is distinguished with a slight protuberance.

Three entrances lead to the mosque. The northern entrance is the main one emphasized by a

portal. On both sides of the portal there are

half-circular bays which were designated for

shoes, as according to the Islamic belief the

mosque should not be entered with shoes on

and without performing the ceremony of

ablution. The ablution process was performed

in the northern part of the court behind the

portal passage to the lower court where there

is a well and a small swimming pool on a lofty square.

In the east on the part of the middle court there is a second entrance leading to the mosque

which is marked with a more modest portal; in the west the entrance aperture is not distinguished

by anything.

Four big clay jugs with their narrow necks turned into the hall are walled in the upper corners

of the central hall of the mosque. On the one hand, this gives an excellent resonance, for the jugs

serve as an original microphone; on the other hand it is a constructive-engineering anti-seismic

method, giving a big steadiness to the building lowering the centre of gravity by lightening the

upper part.

In the butt-end of the southern wall of the central hall of the mosque there is a modestly

decorated mehrab with a shallow bay covered with a lancet semi-cupola. There are bays of different

shapes and designations in the mosque. They served as the storehouse of the prayer carpets, lamps,

the books of the holy Koran and beads.

The windows are taken in stone bars-patterns (shabakas) which give a special beauty to this

modest building from the point of view of an architectural decoration.

The minaret of the mosque rises 22 m high. There is an inscription laid under the stalactite belt

of the minaret which reads, “The greatest Soltan Khalil-Ullah I ordered to build this minaret. May

God exalt the days of his governing and reign. The year of 845” (1441-1442). The small balcony

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(sharafa) of the minaret had previously been made of stone, but in 1723 when Baku was exposed to

the Russian troops’ bombing, the shell destroyed part of the minaret. Later in our times the small

balcony was restored and made of iron.

The Palace Bath-House

The Palace Bath-house is situated on the lowest terrace of the complex. It was discovered in

1939. The archaeological excavations exposed a big bath-house consisting of 26 rooms, covered up

with earth above which there was a garden.

In 1953 the bath-house was partly cleared

and in 1961 it was laid up. On the basis of

the surviving remains of the walls of the

bath-house one can say that its rooms used

to be covered with cupolas and the light

penetrated through the openings in the

cupolas. The bath-house was semi-

underground for keeping the heat in winter and the cool in summer. The indicated system is typical

for the bath-houses in Baku and Absheron.

The project of the palace bath-house consists of 2 big square apartments, further divided by 4

pylons into smaller rooms.

One group of rooms “churl” or “bayir” (external) was designated for undressing and another

group “icheri” (internal) for bathing. The bathing section adjourns reservoirs for cold and hot water

– “khazna”. A special furnace chamber for heating the water was installed in the place where the

reservoir for hot water was. The heating of the baths was carried out with the condensed white oil,

hardened as a yellow stone that burns like a candle. The heating went through the steaming

channels beneath the floor of the bathing section. The cloakroom was heated by means of the hot air

coming from the bathing section.

Traveller I.Lerkh who visited the palace in 1733, wrote about the bath-house, “It is well

decorated both from outside and inside.” The water from the ovdan (reservoir) at the walls ran into

the boiler-room of the bath-house – “gyulkhana” and further was distributed through ceramic pipes

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for which special channels were built. The entrance into the ovdan under the earth had a lancet

aperture leading to the staircase cut in rocky tracts that ended in the depth of 70 steps at the big

reservoir. The water ran there from the subterranean galleries - kahrises. During the construction

work near the western fortress wall in the depth of 10 metres there was found an ancient water pipe

running from the mountains towards the ovdan and the Shirvanshahs’ Palace. The palace and bath-

house must have been provided with the water from this water-pipe.

There were many rooms: a cloakroom, a bath-house and “khalvati” (a secluded place) – a

nook for single bathing. There are small swimming pools of a round shape and cells for shoes in the

rooms. The last compartment with a restored cupola has a majolica decoration of the walls partially

preserved.

Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s Mausoleum

Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s Mausoleum is situated in the southern part of the palace complex and is

generally known under the name of a “Mausoleum

of the “dervish”.

According to the sources Bakuvi was a royal

scholar in the court of Shirvanshah Khalilullah. He

was born in the town of Shamakhy. He was a

sophist, adherent to the teaching of Sheikh

Sadraddin who was at the head of the sect “khalvati” (a secluded place). After Sheikh Sadraddin’s

death Bakuvi moved to Baku. According to different sources he died in 868 (1464) and was buried

in the territory of the palace complex. Up to present about 15 works by Seyid Yahya Bakuvi have

been survived. They all are of a sophist-mystic nature and are kept in the cities of Turkey: Istanbul,

Konya, Manisa.

These are such works as “The Mysteries of the Seekers of Truth”, “The Mysteries of

Inspiration”, “The Symbolism of Signs”, “Commentaries on the Samanids’ Dynasty”, “The

Mysteries of Spirits”, etc. which are the valuable sources in the sphere of studies of philosophy,

astronomy and mathematics.

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Sophism is a mystic-ascetic trend in the Islam known since the VIII century. The sophists

aspired to the individual unity with the God and even for the blending with him through self-

absorption, internal contemplation, followed by ascetic exercises.

The Mausoleum is of an octahedral shape and covered with an octahedral marquee. It consists

of ground and underground parts. The upper part of the Mausoleum served to perform the cult

rites, and the lower one housed the sepulchral vault. The inside of the mausoleum was ornamented

and decorated with a coloured plaster. The Mausoleum is faced with narrow and wide rows of

stones, tightly fitted to one another and wonderfully-dressed.

On the southern, eastern and western verges of the Mausoleum there are three small lancet

windows with a stone bar - shabaka. The Mausoleum is one of the branches of the Shirvan-

Absheron school of architecture.

The Mausoleum was built to an old mosque known as Key-Kubada Mosque. It was in this

mosque that Seyid Yahya Bakuvi worked, prayed and taught. The mosque was built in the years of

Shirvanshah Key-Kubad’s reign in the XIV century and was named after him. But in 1918 the

mosque burnt in the fire and at present only its foundation is remaining. It seems probable that the

mosque had been built in the place of a more ancient one.

The Eastern Portal

The ensemble of the palace constructions also includes the portal of Eastern Gates, the so-

called “Murad’s Gate” which stands alone. It was erected within the walls of the citadel rather later

than all the other constructions of the complex during the seizure of

Baku by the Turks in the XIV century. The gates were named by them

in honour of Soltan Murad III.

By its general style and artistic composition, the eastern portal

bears the spirit of the portals of Divankhana and the burial-vault.

However, in it one can see the features of the fall of the art of construction, the poorer quality of the

stones and the destruction of the purity of the style of the Azerbaijani ornamental art.

The builder of the portal was an architect, Master Amir-shah Vayankukhi by name, an

inhabitant of a suburb near Tabriz. The upper part of the portal is decorated with a construction

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inscription in Arabic, “(Great) Ulu Rajab-baba-Bakuyi ordered to construct this noble building in

the period of the fairest and greatest Soltan - Murad in 994.

(1585-86). Rosettes with vegetable ornaments are set on both

sides of the inscription. In the lower part of the portal there is

a deep bay formed of stalactite semi-cupola. Unlike the other

portals in the courtyard, this portal has a wide lancet entrance

doorway resembling a gate. Most probably this construction functioned as an entrance into the

building which either did not survive or had never been erected at all. This can be seen from the

text of the inscription, which mentions the construction of a building – as an “imarat” (a palace), but

not as a gate.

The architect tried to preserve the unity of the ensemble, but anyway could not avoid the

impact of the collapse, which took place in the architecture of the period full of military actions.

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The Maiden Tower

The most majestic and mysterious monument of Baku is Gyz Galasy - the Maiden Tower

rising in the south-eastern part of the fortress of Icheri Sheher.

This unique building of the Azerbaijani architecture does not

have any analogues in the East. There are numerous debates

on the date of construction and purpose of this monument, at

present it attracts the attention, most of all for its unparalleled

form.

The tower was built on the ledge of the coastal rock and

consists of a cylinder 28 m in height and 16, 5 m in diameter which was inlaid with local grey

limestone. The thickness of the walls at the foundation is 5 meters, and in the upper part 4 meters.

On the eastern side a projection, the purpose of which is still unknown joins the tower. The internal

space of the tower is divided into 8 tiers which can shelter more than 200 people simultaneously.

Each of the eight tiers of the tower is covered with a stone cupola with a round opening. The

light penetrated inside through the narrow window openings of a

loop-hole type, widening inwards. The communication among the

tiers was carried out with the help of the winding stone staircase,

laid in the thickness of the wall. The first tier, like in other Absheron

towers was connected with the second one through an attached or

rope-ladder, which could be taken away in case of danger. Bays are

constructed in the same thickness with the walls, inside them are

laid a pottery pipe 30cm in diameter. There is a well 21m deep inside

the tower, cut in the rock to the water-bearing stratum from the third tier. The water here was clean

and fresh.

The construction date of the Maiden Tower has not been fixed yet. Often its construction is

ascribed to the XII century. This is the age of the plate with the inscription laid from the outside of

the tower. The Cufi inscription, engraved on the plate reads “gubbe (the cupola, vault) of Masud

Ibn Davud”. But this plate definitely appeared in the tower later, as it is accidentally and

inaccurately fit to the masonry, not above the main entrance, but somewhere by the side, at a height

of 14 m from the ground. Most likely it is a tombstone which was placed in the dent done up in the

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tower during the repairs. To date the tower two conditions are used. The first – in the construction

of the Maiden Tower lime mortar was used, and the oldest building constructed with the mortar

was found in Gabala dating to the I century of our era. This is the lowest temporal limit of the age of

the tower. The highest limit can be defined, if the color of the stone of the Maiden Tower is

compared with that of the mosque of Mahammad Ibn Abu-bark, situated in the fortress and

constructed in the years of 1078-1079. Though both of the constructions were made of the same type

of the local limestone, the stones of the Maiden Tower are much darker, that is, it is several hundred

years older than the mosque of

Mahammad. Thus the highest limit is not

later than IX-X centuries. S. B. Ashurbayli,

the well-known historian advanced a

supposition on the construction of the

Maiden Tower in the first centuries of our

era, M. A. Nabiyev – in the VI century of our

era. By D. A. Akhundov’s supposition the

tower was erected in the VI century BC. L. Bretanitski, the historian of the Azerbaijani architecture

considered that it had been erected in two stages: the lower part of the monument up to the height

of 13,7 m was constructed in the V-VI centuries, and the upper part was completed in the XII

century.

It is also rather hard to define the primary functional purpose of the Maiden Tower. The

original construction of the tower as a defense structure gives rise to doubt. It is of little use for a

defense because of the small area and the lack of the conditions for a long stay. The existing narrow

window openings are directed towards the sea and are not intended to repulse the attack of the

enemy. Though it is somehow possible to defend oneself from the enemy only from the top of the

tower. Besides, it has been calculated that it could be possible to build another wall around the city

with the stones and lime spent on the construction of the tower. There are versions that primarily

the tower was constructed as a temple of fire (the word “Gala”- “tower” has another meaning in

Azerbaijani – “to light a fire”), a Zoroastrian hut (that is the tower, where on the top were laid the

bodies of the people for the black kites to tear to pieces), an observation point. But it is doubtless

that in the XII century this splendid tower was part of the defence system of Baku and was the main

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citadel of the Baku fortress, one of the most powerful fortresses of the Shirvanshahs. In the XVIII-

XIX centuries the Maiden Tower was used as a beacon. The beacon in the tower began to give light

since June 13, 1858 but until then a fortress flag had been hoisted on it. Later with the growth of the

city the lights of the beacon on the tower began to mingle with the night lights of the city and the

beacon was transferred to the Nargin Island (Boyuk Zira).

The tower has repeatedly been restored. During the repairs done in the middle of the XIX

century by the Russian military department, the merlons (mashikuli) used for defence purposes

disappeared from the top of the tower. The tower was last restored in the 1960s. In 1964 the Maiden

Tower became a museum, and since 2000 has been included in the UNESCO list of the monuments.

The word “Maiden” is also found in the names of the other towers in the territory of

Azerbaijan and the East and perhaps it means “unsubdued”, “impregnable”. There are a number of

legends connected with the etymology of the name of the Baku “Maiden Tower”.

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The Sabael Castle

In 1235 Shirvanshah Fariburz III had a fortification built on one of the rocky islands of the

Baku bay which was subsequently called the Sabael Castle, Shahri Saba, Shahri Nau, the city under

water, the caravanserai, the Bail rocks, etc. Wrapped in legends, the castle is completely under

water at present and is about 350 meters distant from the shore.

The castle was constructed by the project of the

architect Zeynaddin Ibn Abu Rashid Shirvani. The plan

of the building has a view of an irregular shaped

rectangular of 180 m in length and 40 m in width

sharply stretched from the north to the south. This

shape coincided with the outlines of the island rising

above the sea water on which the foundation of the building is entirely located. The castle was

surrounded with the fortress walls of 1,5-2 m in thickness and had 15 towers, three of which were

round and 12 - semicircular.

The entire fortress in the upper part is set in a frame with an inscription made of Arabic type.

The greater part of the inscription was made in the Persian language – the official language of the

period. The general length of the inscription is 400 metres. Each of the stones with an inscription

was 70 cm lengthwise and 25-50 cm wide, the thickness reached 15-25 cm. These inscriptions do not

have analogues in the entire Near East of the feudal period for their decorative design, the pictures

of living creatures, first discovered in the Islamic monuments of the world. The text of the

inscription gives the genealogy of the Shirvanshahs’

dynasty Mazyadids. The inscriptions on the stones have

not been deciphered up to now. The pictures of different

animals perhaps show the years of one or another

Shirvanshah. As is generally known, in the medieval period in the Near Eastern countries the years

were marked by the names of animals. The pictures of human heads with a crown seem to refer to

individual representatives of the Shirvanshahs’ dynasty. Among the proper names one can see on

the inscriptions are Mahammad Ibn Yazid, Khalid, Ali, Manuchuhr, Fariburz Afrasiyab,

Jamaladdin, etc. One can also see the titles “shah”, “soltan”, the names of cities are also

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encountered. On one stone one can read Benderi-Baku, that is, the port of Baku. The name of Rashid

an-Naggash, that is artist Rashid who had cut out human and animal pictures is also mentioned.

There are different versions about the purpose of the castle. The small width of the exit doors

(1,25m) refutes the version that it was a caravanserai, as loaded camels and horses could not pass

through them. The researches show that this was a defence sea fortress being at the same time a

residence of the Shirvanshahs. The sea fortress on the approaches to Baku was necessary in case of

an attack from the seaside. At the end of the XII century the Shirvanshahs had a marine which stood

round the fortress. From outside round the walls one can see the stones with an opening to tie the

ships.

In the XIII century the Mongols who did not have any fleet, laid

siege to the fortress for a long time. Although they did destroy the upper

part of the fortress with siege-guns, they could not occupy it.

In 1306 as a result of a strong earthquake in the south of the Caspian

and the rise of the sea level the fortress sank into the water. From the

beginning of the XIV century and to the beginning of the XVIII century the

building was flooded with the Caspian waters. In 1723 in connection with the abatement of the

water level in the Caspian the top of the tower appeared from beneath the water. The upper part of

the building is completely destroyed, only the lower part of the walls and the towers reaching in

some places about 1,5-2 m high is surviving.

The archaeological investigations of the castle were carried out in 1939, 1940, 1946, 1962 and

1969. In the course of the excavations the foundations of 9 habitual premises were discovered, two

of them had a hearth. About 700 stones with inscriptions, fragments of earthenware crockery of

black and red baking, intact vessels, copper coins of Shirvanshah Kershasb (1203/4-24) and others

were lifted from the bottom of the sea. Also were found the fragments of potter’s pipes of different

diameters which seemed to be water-pipes. At present part of the stones lifted from the bottom of

the sea are displayed in the museum of the Shirvanshahs’ Palace.

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Towers of Absheron

In the XI-XIII centuries in connection with the consolidation of the Shirvanshahs in the

territory of the Absheron Peninsula a great construction work was carried out. Among the buildings

of that time the towers and castles hold a

special place; they served as reliable

strongholds for the feudal lords in the

intestine wars, also as shelters and places of

defense during the foreign invasions.

Particularly this question was keenly raised

in the XII century, when Absheron was

exposed to the attacks of the Russian

buccaneers from the sea. Thus in 1175

Shirvanshah Akhistan I repulsed several raids of the Russians, who attacked on 73 vessels.

Located along the entire Absheron Peninsula the towers were not designed for long stay in

them. Unlike the West European castles of the same period the Absheron castles did not have wide

inner courtyards with habitable rooms and office buildings. Such kinds of buildings were situated

beyond the fortress walls. The towers served just as temporary shelters for the feudal lords and

their vassals during the attacks and for a passive defense. All the towers of Absheron comprised the

unified system of defence. In the XVII-XVIII centuries the towers played the role of a signal. While

the enemy approached, oil was burnt on top of the towers and in this way the population was

warned against the danger.

The towers of Absheron have a lot of similar features. All of them are or were situated in the

outskirts of the settlements or in general beyond them. Round and quadrangular towers of

Absheron have almost the identical planning in all cases. All of them are enclosed with

quadrangular fortress walls. The courtyard side round all the towers made of stone walls is 20-25

m. In height the towers are divided into tiers (from two to eight), connected with one another by the

stairs as thick as a wall. There are no stairs to the second floor; portable wooden ladders were likely

used. The first floor of all the towers is 6,5 – 7 meters in height, the upper floors – 3,5 –4,5 meters.

The diameters of the round towers and the length of the sides of quadrangular towers (3,5 –5,5 m),

the thickness of the walls (up to 2 m) are also close to one another. All the means of defense of the

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towers are concentrated on the upper square. Being placed on it the riflemen sheltered themselves

by a stepped parapet with merlons. The slot-like narrow openings widened inside on all the tiers of

the tower except the ground floor, served mainly for lighting and ventilation. Their sizes did not

allow using them for military actions; the zone for defeating was extremely limited. The primitive

sewage lines – posts and wells with water also point to the fact that these towers served as

temporary living quarters during the siege.

Better preserved towers are in Ramana, Nardaran and two - in Mardakan, but the towers in

Bilgah, Shagan and Gala are in ruins. Towers also existed in the settlements of Mashtagha,

Shuvalan, Keshla, Hovsan, Buzovna and others. Thus there were about 30 towers in the villages of

Absheron.

Great Mardakan Castle

The Absheron Peninsula is rich in architectural monuments of world importance. One of them

is the Great Mardakan Castle in the Khazar district of Baku.

The name of Shirvanshah Akhsitan bin Manuchohr was

mentioned in the epigraphic plaques found in the

monument. The Russian scientist I. Berezin, who was here in the

first half of the 19th century, had seen the gate still intact and

noted that there was an inscription on it. The inscription was

discovered during a clean-up works in 1940. The book says: "This

fortress was built by Amir Abu Nasr Izz-Al-Mulk Abu Ali ibn

Bakir." The person mentioned in the book is believed to be the military commander of the Shirvan

army.

Once, there was another inscription on the castle. At present, the inscription engraved on

these two layers of stone (1.94 x 0.58 x 0.61 m) is kept in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg

(Russia). The inscription was found near the castle in 1853 and was sent to St. Petersburg. The

Arabic inscription reads: “Shirvanshah Ahistan ibn Manuchohr, the ruler of the world and Islam.

Five hundred and eighty-third year”. That is, 583 AH, 1187-1188 AD. This note clearly shows the

date of construction of the fortress.

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The castle was a place of protection, a shelter for the people living in the area during the

attack, as well as a lighthouse or minaret, i.e., an observation post. During the reign of the ruler of

the Shirvanshah state, Akhsita I (son of Manuchohr II), a large fleet was created in the port of Baku.

In 1175, the Russians, who attacked Baku with 73 ships, were prevented by this fleet. In 1191,

Shirvanshah Akhsitan I moved his estate from Shamakhi to Baku, and thus Baku became the center

of the Shirvanshah state for the first time.

Great Mardakan Castle was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in Need

of Urgent Safeguarding within The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions on October 24, 2001.

Ramana Castle
Ramana Castle is a historical and architectural monument located in the Ramana settlement of

the Sabunchu district in Baku. The castle has been

registered as a monument of global significance by

the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic

of Azerbaijan.

The fortress was possibly constructed for

defense purposes on the order of the Shirvanshahs in

the 14th century. However, some researchers date the construction of the fortress to the 12th

century. The inner courtyard of the fortress measures 28x10 meters. The outer walls of the fortress

are reinforced with semicircular towers located at the corners and along the walls. A defensive

platform is situated above the entrance to the Ramana castle. Unlike the three-tier structure typical

of round donjons, the square-shaped donjon of the Ramana castle is divided into four tiers.

Primarily, the construction of the Absheron fortresses, initiated from the 12th century, were

interconnected. Also, the fact that these fortresses were predominantly built on the northeastern

shores, specifically in the northern and northeastern villages of Baku, indicated that the main

direction of the threat came from that direction. The first castle, spotting strange ships on the shore,

would signal danger at night with bonfires and during the day by producing smoke, relaying the

warning to another castle, which, in turn, would communicate it to yet another fortress.

Consequently, the entire Absheron region, including the Baku fortress, would be alerted. Some

historians have previously claimed the existence of underground passages connecting all the

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fortresses, generally leading to another castle, specifically the Baku fortress, including the Maiden

Tower.

Ramana Castle was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in Need of

Urgent Safeguarding within the Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions on October 24, 2001.

Small Mardakan Castle

One of the main reasons for the great attention paid to the defense of Absheron in the 12th

century was the raids of Russian pirates on the

peninsula from the north. Coastal defensive towers

along the coast are relatively rare in the interior

villages of the peninsula. The towers also functioned as

a signal.

According to researchers, there were more than

thirty such defenses in Absheron as a whole. One of these monuments is Small Mardakan Castle

located in the Mardakan settlement of the Khazar district of Baku. The small circular castle was

built in 1203-1204 on a sandy area. However, it is still questionable why the fortress was not built on

a nearby rock, which is more strategically convenient. The system of towers erected in the most

strategically convenient places was able to spread the question of enemy threat from any corner of

the peninsula to the whole of Absheron in a short time.

At the top of the castle gate there are three epigraphic inscriptions written in Arabic on a large

rectangular stone layer. As can be seen from the content of the first inscription, the fortress was built

during the reign of Shirvanshah Hershasi bin Farrukhzad bin II Manichohr (1204-1225). The second

inscription shows that the owner of the fortress was the mighty Ishap bin Kakuli. This person was

the supreme commander of the Shirvan army. In this inscription, the date of construction of the

fortress is shown in the month of Mordad, 600 Hijri calendars, which corresponds to the years 1203-

1204 in the Gregorian calendar. The third inscription on the western part of the wall was written it

was built by the architect Abd-al-Majid, the son of Masud.

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Nardaran Fortress
Nardaran Fortress was built in 1301 by architect Mahmud ibn Sa'd in the northern part of

Absheron Peninsula. It is located 25 km north of Baku

in the village of Nardaran. Like most of the

fortifications in the Absheron peninsula, its purpose

was solely defensive.

Nardaran fortress is a construction consisting of

a round tower and quadrangular tower walls. The

height of the tower is 12 meters high and the height of

the walls is different.

It is 8 meters to the north and 5 meters to the south-west. The Nardaran fortress is divided

into three parts. The first half is three times higher than the others. The pedestals are covered with

stone. The thickness of the fortress walls is 1.56 to 1.85 meters. On the first floor of the fortress there

is a deep well. According to local residents, there was underground sewerage here.

On the second floor of the Nardaran fortress, there are stone stairs leading up and down to

the third floor. The third layer is currently disintegrated. However, traces of stones inside the wall

indicate that the rest of the tower was also the fourth layer. If so, the height of the fort was

traditionally higher than 20 meters. There are two inscriptions on the wall of the Nardaran tower,

about two-quarter height, showing the construction worker, architect and construction history. An

inscription on Nardaran fortress, which was translated by A. A. Alasgarzade, says: “In the name of

the all-merciful Allah! Mother…Barikat…ordered to build this building on her own means and

dirhams for beholding Allah, to please him and to deserve all his rewards. On the date of Ramadan

of the 700th year “(700-1301)”.

Nardaran fortress was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in Need of

Urgent Safeguarding within the Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions on October 24, 2001.

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The Fire Temple Ateshgah

In early history Azerbaijan was called the “land of the sacred fire”. Although the “everlasting

fire” mentioned by early travelers such as Alexandre Dumas was due to the gas and oil deposits

erupting from the earth, it became surrounded by legend and mystery. Some 2,600 years ago,

Zarathustra was formulating Zoroastrianism,

one of the first major monotheistic religions. His

idea to use fire as a metaphor for the mysteries of

God probably came from witnessing the

spontaneous flames that rise so eerily from

Azerbaijan's Absheron Peninsula. Today some

such fires still burn. Most notable is Yanar Dagh near Mammedli, where a small hillside is

constantly and naturally aflame.

On Absheron there were many temples of Fire as well. From their variety the most famous is

the well-preserved temple Ateshgah ("the Fire Place") in Surakhany, located 20 kilometers east of

the town center. The temple was built over a pocket of natural gas that fuelled a vent providing an

'eternal' fire. This kind of use of fire in Zoroastrian temples led to the followers of Zoroaster

(Zarathustra).

Historians, archaeologists, and theologians have argued over the construction date of the

temple. Some defend that there was a Zoroastrian temple in Surakhany since the 6th century; others

delay that event for another seven centuries. As the introduction of Islam to the region to the area

resulted in the destruction of almost every Zoroastrian temple and documents, these claims are

hard to assess. After Azerbaijan was Islamized some Zoroastrians escaped to India. But trade links

with India in later centuries, led to renewed contacts with the fire-worshippers, who had migrated

from to Northern India. During 17th and 18th Century, the site was rebuilt by Indian merchants and

masons, who had established in Baku their settlement. More photogenic is a fortified 18th century

stone fire temple built on the site of original at Surakhany Ateshgah. This fire temple, with a

mixture of Indian and Azerbaijani architectural styles, is a surviving proof of age old relationship

between the two countries. The pentagon shaped building is surrounded by a wall with a guest

room over the gate ('balakhane'). There are still some wall inscriptions in Sanskrit and Gurumukhi,

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including poems. Cells for pilgrims line the wall inside and surround the main altar in the center of

the temple - a quadrangular pavilion with the fire on the altar inside.

Surakhany remained a popular destination for Indian pilgrims until the end of XIX century.

The natural gas vent has been exhausted and in 1880 the last pilgrim returned to India.

The temple was last restored in 1975. Today low, dark cells for monks and pilgrims in the

Ateshgah Temple at Surakhany house is an interesting museum, intended to introduce the

rudiments of Zoroastrianism to the uninitiated.

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Modern Baku

The history of modern Baku was beginning from fight of people for the national sovereignty

and freedom of Azerbaijan from Soviet Union.

To suppress the national movement, to ban the calls for and not to allow the collapse of the

USSR, the Soviet leadership’s punitive action

unprecedented in cruelty and cynicism and

savage reprisal against unarmed population of

the city were carried out in Baku in January 1990.

At night from January 19 to 20 troops were

brought into Baku. The engagement of the

military units and formations in the city was

accompanied with firing which victimized the peaceful citizens: the youth, the old and the children

– part of the defenseless unarmed population of Baku who either protested against the entry of the

unbidden army into the city or happened to be on its way. Tanks crushed the passing emergency

vehicles, the cars on the roadside, the wounded were crushed, and the medical personnel rendering

first aid on the spot were fired at. Death overtook some people in their flats, in the porches of the

houses, in buses and at their workplaces. As a result, 131 people died and 744 were wounded and a

lot of them were crippled forever. The January tragedy of 1990 entered the Azerbaijani people’s

national consciousness as the most sorrowful event, at the same time, as the turning point in the

history of Azerbaijan in the XX century on its way to the national independence.

After the collapse of the USSR the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan accepted a declaration “On

the Restoration of the State Independence of Republic of Azerbaijan”. In accordance with this

declaration Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed sovereign on October 18, 1991. For the second

time in the history of the XX century Baku became the capital of an independent state.

With the independence gained in 1991 Baku as well as the entire Azerbaijan clashed with a

range of uneasy problems associated with the collapse of the planned economy and the hardships

of the transition period. The independent Azerbaijan fighting for the territorial integrity had to

solve also a range of complicated problems caused by the aggression of neighboring Armenia which

had occupied one fifths of the Azerbaijani territory. The most complicated were the questions

associated with the solution of living problems of more than one million refugees who had to leave

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their homes. The Armenian aggression inflicted on the economy of Azerbaijan such a heavy blow

that it stops the reform processes, has an impact on the micro-economic indices of the country and

impedes the further economic structure.

Heydar Aliyev’s return to the leadership of the Republic in 1993 enabled to stabilize the

internal political situation in the Republic and to attract the investments of the biggest international

oil companies for its development. A significant event of this kind was the signing of the great oil

contract in September 1994 also known as “the Contract of the Century”. This enabled to start the

realization of several concrete issues including the ones connected with the consolidation of the

independence of the Republic, the development of the city’s economy and the constructions in

Baku. Today being actively developed the capital of Azerbaijan plays a significant role and has

become the biggest political and economic centers in the region.

The basis of Baku's economy is petroleum. Azerbaijan produces about 800,000 barrels of oil

per day and 1 bcma of gas—with an

historical peak of 1.2 million barrels per day

by 2008 with equally large amount of gas

expected. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline,

opened in 2006, transports crude oil 1094

miles (1760km) from the Azeri-Chirag-

Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the

Mediterranean Sea. The oil is pumped from the Sangachal Terminal close to Baku, via Tbilisi the

capital of Georgia, to Ceyhan a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

The oil economy of Baku underwent resurgence in the early years of the twenty-first century,

with the development of the massive Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field, development of the Shah Deniz

gas field, and the expansion of the Sangachal Terminal. Industries in Baku produce equipment for

the oil industry. The city is the location of metalworking, shipbuilding and repair industries,

and the manufacture of electrical machinery, the production of chemicals and construction

materials, and food processing. The Baku Stock Exchange has been operating since February 2001.

The citizens of Baku are always notable for their belief in future and great optimism despite

any adversity. And today when our young republic has chosen the road of its independent

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development, we are sure that Baku will achieve great successes and hold a place worthy of its past,

present and future to rank with the famous capitals of the world.

Modern Baku consists of three parts: The Old Town (İçəri Şəhər), the boomtown, and the

Swhioviet-built town. The center of Baku is the

old town, which is also a fortress. In December

2000, the Inner City of Baku with the Palace of

the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower became the

first location in Azerbaijan classified as a World

Heritage Site. UNESCO's justification for the

listing states: "The Walled City of Baku

represents an outstanding and rare example of an historic urban ensemble and architecture with

influence from Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian cultures."

Most of the walls and towers, strengthened after the Russian conquest in 1806, survived. This

section is picturesque, with its maze of narrow alleys and ancient buildings: The cobbled streets

past the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, two caravansaries (ancient inns), the Maiden Tower, the baths,

and the Juma Mosque. The old town has dozens of small mosques, often without any particular

sign to distinguish them from the next building.

More than 225 names of streets have been changed since 1988, in an attempt to erase links

with the former Soviet Union. The first street to be built outside the Inner City, originally called

Nikolayevskaya after Nicolas I, was renamed to Parlaman Kuchesi, because the Parliament of

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic held its meeting in a building located at that street. During the

Soviet era, it became Kommunisticheskaya Ulitsa. Now it is called İstiqlaliyyet Kuchesi, celebrating

Azeri independence.

Baku is divided into eleven administrative districts, or raions (Azizbayov, Binagadi,

Garadagh, Narimanov, Nasimi, Nizami, Sabail, Sabunchu, Khatai, Surakhany, and Yasamal), and 48

townships. Among these are the townships on islands in the Baku Bay and the town of Oil Rocks,

built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 37 miles (60km) away from Baku.

Baku has vibrant theater, opera and ballet. The main movie theatre is "Azerbaijan Cinema."

The Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is one of the most ornate music halls in the

city. The State Philharmonic Hall with excellent acoustic conditions often holds performances

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outside. The Carpet and Applied Arts Museum exhibits the carpets from all periods, styles and

from both Azerbaijan proper and the Azeri provinces in Iran. Baku also houses the country's largest

art museum — Azerbaijan State Museum of Art, a depository of both domestic and foreign works

of art, Western and Eastern.

Heydar Aliyev Palace is one of the main venues featuring sizable performances.

Baku has produced a number of notable figures in the sciences, arts and other fields. Notable

scientists include: Soviet space program head Kerim Kerimov, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics

of 1962 Lev Landau, fuzzy logic inventor Lotfi Zadeh, philosopher Max Black, cellist Mstislav

Rostropovich and many others.

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Brief chronology of the history of Baku

8th millennium BC First settlements are founded on the Absheron Peninsula.

6th cent. BC "Ateshi-Baguan", the temple of fire worshippers on the Absheron
Peninsula, is constructed.
6th cent. BC "Giz Galasi" [the Maiden Tower] is constructed.
Early 5th cent. BC Huns invade Azerbaijan.
87-92 Roman military campaign to the coast territories of the Caspian Sea
Mid 7th cent. - late 8th cent. Khazars rule in Azerbaijan
BC
6th century AD First currency with an indication of the coining place - Baku,
Sasanids, Khormuzd
7th century The rule of one of the first Shirvanshahs – Shahriyar
7th-8th centuries Arabs 'invasion of Azerbaijan
Early 8th cent. BC Islam becomes the dominant religion in Azerbaijan.
707 First coin during the Arabs' rule – dirkhema
861 -1027 The rule of the Shirvanshahs dynasty of Mazyadids
1027-1382 The rule of the Shirvanshahs dynasty of Kesranids
60s of the 9th cent. Shirvan regains its independence.
The 11th century Seljuks' invasion of Azerbaijan

1027-1037 The rule of Manuchohr Shirvanshah

1074-1117 The rule of Shirvanshah Fariburz I
1078 The mosque of Mohammed ["Sinig-gala"], the most ancient
architectural memorial, is constructed
The 12th century Construction of the fortress walls in Baku
1120-1149 The rule of Shirvanshah Manuchekhr II
1149-1203 The rule of Shirvanshah Akhsitan I
1220-1222 The first march of Mongols to Azerbaijan
1231-1239 The second march of Mongols to Azerbaijan
1258 The third march of Mongols headed by Hulaku Khan, occupation of
Shirvan and Baku
1382-1538 Shirvanshahs dynasty of Derbendi
1382-1417 The rule of Ibrahim Shirvanshah I

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The 12th -15th centuries Construction of the Shirvanshahs Palace in Baku

1417-1462 The rule of Khalilullah Shirvanshah I
1462-1501 Rule of Shirvanshah Farruh Yassar
1500 Troops of Farruh Yassar are defeated by Ismail Sefevi
14th-15th centuries Construction of the Shirvanshahs' Palace in Baku.
1501 The rule of Bahram-bey Shirvanshah
1501 Baku is occupied by the troops of Sheikh Ismail Sefevi
1501-1502 The rule of Sultan Mohammed Gazi Shirvanshah.
1502-1524 The rule of Sheikh Ibrahim Shirvanshah II.
1524-1535 The rule of Khalilullah Shirvanshah II.
1538 Annexation of Shirvan by Safavids.
1534,1535,1548,1554 Military campaigns of Turkish sultan Suleyman I to Azerbaijan
1607 Baku was taken by the troops of Shah Abbas
1667-1669 Pirate attacks of Stepan Razin troops on Mashataga and Baku
1683 The visit of the Swedish Ambassador to Baku. E. Kempfer's paintings
of Baku
1722-1723 The Caspian march of Peter I. Occupation of the western and south-
eastern coast of the Caspian Sea
1723, July 10 The Russian squadron occupies Baku
The 17th -18th centuries Construction of the fire temple in Ateshgah
1734-1744 Military campaigns of Nadir Shah
40s of the 18th cent. Independent and semi-independent khanates in Azerbaijan are
founded
1747 Baku khanate becomes fully independent. The first Baku khan was
Mirza Muhammad Khan I
1796 Campaign of V. Zubov to Azerbaijan

February 8, 1806 Assassination of General Tsitsianov in Baku, commander of Russian

troops in the Caucasus
1804-1813 The Russian-Persian War
October 3, 1806 Abolition of the Baku khanate
1826-1828 The Russian-Persian War
1828-1829 The Russian-Turkish War
1840, July 10 "Principles of ruling of the Transcaucasian region" is approved by the
Russian Duma and the Baku uyezd is included as an administrative

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region of Russia
1848 The world’s first oil well is drilled in Baku [in Bibi-Heybat]
December 2, 1859 Shemakhi province is renamed into Baku province. Baku becomes a
provincial city
December 6, 1859 Creation of Baku government
1859 The first oil refinery is constructed in Baku [in Surakhani]
1859 The first city garden is laid
1861 The first photos of Baku taken by A.Ulsky, captain-lieutenant of the
Russian Fleet
1863 The world’s first kerosene plant is constructed
February 6, 1868 Telegraph communications begins between Baku and Tbilisi

1872 The fanning system for "Oil Lands" in Russia is abolished

1873 The national theater of Azerbaijan is founded
1874 The Modern school is opened in Baku
1874 The oil school is established in Baku
1878 The city's public administration in Baku is founded
1879 The Nobel brothers establish their oil-production company
May, 1883 Completion of the construction of the Baku - Tbilisi Transcaucasian
Railway
1883 Outside walls of Baku fortress were pulled down
1885 Foundation of the Rotshild oil-industry and commercial company in
the Caspian-Black Sea region
1892 The first public transport - horse-driven tramway in Baku
August, 1894 N. Narimanov established the first library and reading room in
Azerbaijan
1894 The first water distiller in Baku is put into operation
1896 H.-Z. Tagiyev establishes the first women's college in the East
1896 Foundation of the commercial college in Baku
1897-1901 The textile factory of H.Z. Tagiyev was constructed in Baku
1897-1907 The Baku-Batumi oil pipeline was put into operation
1898 The "Russian Oil"company begins its activity in Baku
1898 A civil engineer Von der Nonne develops the first professional plan
for the growth of Baku

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1897-1907 Baku-Batumi oil pipe-line was built

March, 1905 Foundation of the "Nijat"(Rescue) education association

August , 1906 The First Congress of Teachers of Azerbaijan

October, 1906 Foundation of the "Union of the Workers of Oil Industry" in
Baku

October 12, 1908 Staging of the first opera in the East "Leyli and Majnun" by U.
Hajibeyov
1911 Foundation of the political party "Musavat"

1911 Construction of the first branch of the Baku water-supply system

1911 Construction of the first cement producing plant in Baku

1912 Approval of the Law "On the cease of the temporary-obligatory

and dependent relations of peasants to the landlords in the
Transcaucasia (including Baku province) by the way of
redemption of their lands into their property under the
assistance of the government" by the Russian Duma
1916 The first feature film "In the kingdom of oil and millions" was
produced

1914-1917 Baku produced 7 million tons of oil each year, totaling 28 million,
683 thousand tons of oil, which constituted 15% of world
production the time
1917 After the October revolution and amidst the turmoil of the World
War I and the breakup of the Russian Empire, Baku came under
the control of the Baku Commune

March 6, 1917 Foundation of the Baku Soviet of Deputies of Labourers

April 25, 1918 Foundation of the Baku Soviet of Peoples Commissars

March 30 - April 3, 1918 Forces of the Bolshevik Baku Soviet, aided by armed militia of
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun),
committed massacres of 12 thousands Azerbaijani civilians.
These days historically remembered by Azerbaijanis as genocide.

1918, May 28 Acceptance of the “Document about independence of

Azerbaijan”. Creation of the People’s Republic of Azerbaijan.
Baku became the capital of ADR.

June 2, 1918 Decree of the Baku Soviet of People's Commissars on the

nationalization of the oil industry

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July 31, 1918 Overthrow of the Soviet power in Baku

August 1, 1918 Arrival of the contingent of British Troops in Baku

September 4, 1918 Withdrawal of the troops of British Army from Baku.

September 15, 1918 Arrival of the regular Turkish troops in Baku

September 15, 1918 Liberation of Baku by Caucasian Islamic Army.

February, 1920 1st congress of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan illegally took
place in Baku.

April 28, 1920 Invasion of Eleven’s Red Army in Baku.

April 28, 1920 Declaration of the Soviet power in Azerbaijan. Establishment of
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.

1923 Laying of a hotbed for planting trees and gardens in the city

April, 1923 Foundation of the first off - shore oil field in the world "the Bay
of Ilych" in the place of the artificial harbor
February 8, 1924 The first tram line and two years later the electric railway Baku-
Surakhany, the first one in the USSR, started to operate.

1924-1937 Elaboration of variants of the general plan of development of

Baku
1926 First International Turkish congress in Baku

1926 First Radio station in Baku

March 4, 1936 Opening of the First Congress of Architects of Azerbaijan in
Baku
1940 22, 2 million tons of oil was extracted in Baku which comprised
nearly 72% of all the oil extracted in the entire USSR.
1941 The trolley bus line started to operate in the city.

January 5, 1946 Decree of the Soviet of People's Comissars of the USSR "On
Measures for the Improvement of the Urban Economy of Baku"
1947 The first oil platform in the world, originally called "The Black
Rocks," was built in within the city's metropolitan area.

1948 Building of the first in the world oil-field’s platform in the

Caspian sea

November, 1949 The first well drilled in the area of the "Oil Rocks" off-shore
deposit

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November 1, 1949 Opening of the Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute in Baku

1952-1954 Elaboration of the General Plan of Development of Baku for the

period till 1976 by a group of architects from "Bakgiprogor" State
Projecting Institute
1960 The first Caucasus house-building plant was built in Baku.

November 5, 1960 Starting up of the first energetic unit of open type in the USSR in
HES "Severnaya" in Baku
1967 Bringing in exploitation of the 6 stations of Metropolitan in Baku.

1964-1968 The level of oil extraction rose to the stable level and comprised
about 21 million tons per year.
1970s Azerbaijan became one of the largest producers of grapes and a
champagne factory was subsequently constructed in Baku.
December 25, 1975 The only plant producing air-conditioners in the Soviet Union
was turned over for operation in Baku

April 16, 1980 Baku was awarded with the Red Banner of the CC of CPSU, the
All-Soviet Labor Unions Organization and Komsomol
Organization for its victory in All-Union Socialist Competition of
1979.
1981 A record quantity of 15 billion m3 of gas was extracted in Baku.

1982 Development of the General Plan of the Economic and Social

Development of Baku for the period till 2005
1983 Bringing in exploitation of the oil pipe-line Baku-Grozny.

November, 1988 Mass meetings in Baku connected with the conflict in Garabag
December 4, 17

January 19-20, 1990 Occupation of Baku by the Soviet troops and massacre of the
innocent victims. As a result, 131 people died and 744 were
wounded and a lot of them were crippled forever. This day
remembered as “Black January” in memory of the people.
June 9, 1993 Arrival of Heydar Aliyev in Baku.

September20, 1994 A significant event - the signing of the great oil contract also
known as “the Contract of the Century”.
October 19, 1997 Beginning of the exploitation of the Baku-Novorossiysk oil
pipeline by AIOC
November 12, 1997 Production of the first oil on the off shore platform "Chirag" by
the Azerbaijan International Operating company [AIOC].

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2000, December The Inner City of Baku with the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and
Maiden Tower became the first location in Azerbaijan classified
as a World Heritage Site.
November 9-10, 2001 I Congress of Azerbaijanis of the world in Baku

May 22-23, 2002 Visit of the Rome Pope Ion Paul II in Baku.

September 18, 2002 Foundation of the oil pipe-line Baku-Jeykhan in Sangachal

May 26, 2005 Letting out in exploitation of Azerbaijani part of the main export
oil pipe-line Baku-Tbilisi-Djeykhan
March 9, 2007 I Forum of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkish diasporas in
Baku
June 18, 2007 Summit of GUAM in Baku

November 17, 2007 Opening of XI Congress of the friendship, brotherhood and

cooperation of Turkish states and associations in Baku

November 21-23, 2007 The fifth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers was
proclaimed Baku the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2009 and it
was decided to hold the Sixth Islamic Conference of Culture
Ministers in 2009 in Baku.

2008 Azerbaijan produces about 800,000 barrels of oil per day and 1
bcma of gas — with an historical peak of 1.2 million barrels per
day with equally large amount of gas expected.

March 7, 2008 Official inauguration of Virgin Mary Catholic Church was held
in Baku
March 7, 2008 Inauguration of Baku branch of Moscow State University

May 9, 2008 In Baku opened the first concrete road Zikh-Airport that meets
the requirements of the international standard I-B
May 26, 2008 Re-opening ceremony of the State Russian Drama Theater after
reconstruction.
February 27, 2009 The opening ceremony of "Baku - the Capital of Islamic Culture
2009” culture year

February 12, 2009 Inauguration the Baku International Bus Station Complex

July 6, 2009 Inauguration Tezepir mosque complex after major overhaul

February 10, 2010 The introduction of the state historic – architectural

reserve-museum entitled “The Ensemble of the
Shirvanshahs’ Palace” into the framework of Icheri Sheher

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State Historic – Architectural Reserve Office under the

Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan
March 16, 2010 The opening of the dry cargo port area in Baku bay

April 26, 2010 Summit of the world religious leaders was held in Baku

May 17, 2010 The inauguration of the memorial of the founder of the Turkish
Republic Mustafa Kamal Ataturk
September 1, 2010 The opening of the National Flag Square in Baku

October 4, 2010 Opening of Jewish school in Baku

November 3, 2010 Ceremony of laying the foundation of New Baku International

Trade Seaport Complex

November 8, 2010 Opening of Baku circular road

November 9, 2010 Opening ceremony of the National Flag Museum which is

located on the National Flag Square in Baku
November 18, 2010 The third summit of Caspian Sea littoral states was held in Baku.
The Summit involved the signing of an agreement on security
cooperation and a Joint Declaration between the leaders of the
five countries

December 28, 2010 Oguz-Gabala-Baku water pipeline was put into operation

June 6, 2011 The ceremony of laying the foundations of Baku Olympic

Stadium

June 26, 2011 The grand military parade on the occasion of the 20th
anniversary of restoration of state independance of Azerbaijan
and the 93rd anniversary of Armed Forces was held in Azadlig
(Freedom) square in Baku

June 29, 2011 Opening of “Darnagul” station of Baku Metro in the 7th
microdistrict of Baku

September 19, 2011 Inauguration of memorial to outstanding Azerbaijani composer,

People's Artist of the USSR and Azerbaijan, Hero of Socialist
Labour, State Prize Laureate Fikret Amirov in the center of Baku

October 10, 2011 International Humanitarian Forum on "XXI century: hopes and
challenges" was held in Baku
December 24, 2011 Foundation stone laying ceremony of “Baku White City”

December 26, 2011 Inauguration of the Museum in Gobustan State Historical and
Artistic Reserve

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December 29, 2011 Inauguration of the Intellectual Transport Management Center in

Baku
February 21, 2012 Inauguration ceremony of the Monument of the people’s hero
Koroghlu in Nasimi district of Baku
May 7, 2012 Opening of the Baku Crystal Hall – venue holding 25000
spectators
May 10, 2012 Opening of the Heydar Aliyev Center

May 26, 2012 Eurovision Song Contest final was held in Baku

June 29, 2012 Official opening of Crans Montana Forum in Baku

April 8, 2013 World Economic Forum Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the
South Caucasus and Central Asia was held in Baku
May7, 2013 The First South Caucasus Forum was held in Baku

May 30, 2013 The Second World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue opened in
Baku
December 13, 2013 Inauguration of the “Kitabi Dede Gorgud” monument and Dede
Gorgud Park in Baku
February 3, 2014 Inauguration of the prominent Azerbaijani composer Gara
Garayev’s monument in Baku
April 16, 2014 Inauguration of the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku

April 28, 2014 Official opening of the Second Global Open Society Forum in
Baku
October 2, 2014 The Fourth Baku International Humanitarian Forum was held in
Baku
December 26, 2014 Opening of the Heydar Mosque in Baku

May 18, 2015 The Third World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue opened in
Baku
June 1, 2015 Opening of the Baku White City Boulevard

June 8, 2015 Opening of the Bayil Boulevard

June 12-28, 2015 “Baku-2015” the First European Games

September 1-13, 2016 The 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku

September 29-30, 2016 The 6th Baku International Humanitarian Forum

December 24, 2016 The opening of Marionette Theatre in Icherisheher

February 2, 2017 The unveiling of a monument to the prominent conductor of

Azerbaijan, maestro Niyazi

March 16, 2017 The 5th Global Baku Forum on “Future of international relations:
Power and interests”

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May 5, 2017 The 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue on “Advancing

Intercultural Dialogue – New avenues for human security, peace
and sustainable development” in Baku

May 12-22, 2017 The 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku

October 30, 2017 A solemn opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway at

Baku International Sea Trade Port

November 8, 2017 A solemn ceremony to celebrate two billion tons of oil

production in Azerbaijan

December 21, 2017 An international conference on “2017 - Islamic Solidarity:

Religions and Intercultural Dialogue” in Baku

March 15-16, 2018 The 6th Global Baku Forum on “Bridging Gaps to Create
Inclusive Societies”

May 28, 2018 An official reception on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of
the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic at the Heydar Aliyev Center
in Baku.
May 29, 2018
The official opening ceremony of the Southern Gas Corridor in
Sangachal terminal
June 26, 2018
A military parade on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the
September 15, 2018 Armed Forces of Azerbaijan in the Azadlig (Liberty) Square in
Baku
A solemn parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the liberation
January 29, 2019 of Baku from Bolshevik-Dashnak occupation

"2019-2023 State Program on socio-economic development of

March 14-16, 2019 Baku and surrounding settlements"

The VII Global Baku Forum on the theme “New foreign policy of
May 2-3, 2019 the world” was held

Baku hosted the V World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue under

the motto "Building a dialogue to fight against discrimination,
December 10, 2020 inequality and violent conflict"

A Victory parade dedicated to Victory in the Patriotic War was

May 29, 2021 held at the Azadlig Square, Baku.

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June 4-6, 2021 The opening of "November 8" station of Baku Metro

Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the sixth round of the 2021 Formula One
World Championship

Translated.

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Documents related to the capital

December 6, 1859 – The Decree of Tsar Alexander on the renaming of Shemakha governorate into
Baku governorate and transfer of some establishments from Shamakhy to Baku

January 16, 1878 - An Act on establishment of the Baku Municipal Administration

October 28, 1906 – The Decree on establishment of the Baku Gradonachalstvo (Baku Municipal
Administration).

September 18, 1918 – An Act of the Council of Ministers about restoration of the activity of Baku
Municipal Administration

December 29, 1998 – A Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan On granting to Baku
Boulevard Seaside the status of the National Park

February 17, 2003 – A Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan On measures state-care
to the protection of historical-architectural monuments in Icheri Sheher

February 10, 2005 – A Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan On establishment of the
Administration of the State Historic and Architectural Reserve Icheri Sheher (SDHARIS) under the
Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan

August 18, 2006 – A Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan On restoration and
protection of historical-architectural monuments in the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku
city

December 19, 2007 - The Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the announcement
of the territory of the Temple Ateshgah at the Surakhany district of Baku city of the Republic of
Azerbaijan as a State Historic and Architectural Reserve “Temple Ateshgah”

January 10, 2008 – A Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan On establishment of the
Administration of Boulevard Seaside under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan

December 16, 2009 – A Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan On measures on
development of the State Historic and Architectural Reserve Icheri Sheher.

You can look through the text of the given documents in Azerbaijani and Russian versions of e-
resources.

Translated

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Bibliography cited

1. Tagiyev. F. “Visions of Azerbaijan”. -2010. -May-June. -P.55-56.

2. Chingiz Qajar. Old Baku. Baku 2009. 204 p., p-8.
3. Icheri Sheher in Baku. Baku, 2007
4. www.window2baku.com.
5. www.bakucity.az
6. www.bakupages.com
7. www.icherisheher.gov.az
8. www.azerbaijan24.com

Informal translation by Sarijalinskaya K.

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