Writing Azerbaijan's History: Digging for the Truth

Of course, "History of Azerbaijan" had many shortcomings, since it was written from the Communist ideological position. All historical processes were analyzed on the basis of Marxist-Leninist theory. For instance, during the Soviet period, Turkey and Iran were considered to be historical enemies of Azerbaijan. Therefore, "History of Azerbaijan" includes statements such as: "In the 17th century, Turkish troops completely destroyed and devastated Tabriz and other places of Azerbaijan...In this period Azerbaijan turned into a military theater of bloody wars between Iran and Turkey...Thousands of people were killed and turned into slaves...Azerbaijani people suffered very much!" Describing Turkey as anything other than an enemy was dangerous for Soviet-era historians, who were afraid of being labeled as "Pan-Turkists". Soviet propagandists branded some poets and intellectuals from the late 19th century and early 20th century as "Pan-Turkists" with severe consequences. For example, Ahmad Javad (1892-1937), a poet who lived during the ADR period, praised the independence of Azerbaijan in his poems and is remembered, among other things, for writing the lyrics to Azerbaijan's National Anthem. Javad was declared a Nationalist and Pan-Turkist and then shot. Salman Mumtaz was labeled as a Pan-Turkist because he wrote about Azerbaijani literature as being a part of Turkic literature. He was killed in prison by the KGB in 1938. His collection of rare ancient manuscripts that had been gathered from all over Azerbaijan was confiscated. Today these books are archived in the Institute of Manuscripts and are called the "Salman Mumtaz Collection". The bravest Azerbaijani dissident to oppose the Armenians was Professor Ziya Bunyadov (1923-1997), a huge figure in the study of Azerbaijani history. In his book "Azerbaijan in the 7th-9th Centuries AD", Bunyadov proved that no part of Azerbaijan was considered part of Armenia in ancient times. He also wrote about the independent Azerbaijani states of Shirvan and Aran (Caucasian Albania), which covered the territory of Northern Azerbaijan and some other territories. Many Armenian historians were enraged by Bunyadov's books, calling him a "chauvinist" and the "No. 1 Enemy" of Armenia.