THE REFLECTION OF THE GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION OF AZERBAIJAN IN THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY IN AZERBAIJANI AND RUSSIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

ОТРАЖЕНИЕ ГЕОПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ СИТУАЦИИ АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНА В НАЧАЛЕ 18 ВЕКА В АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКОЙ И РОССИЙСКОЙ ИСТОРИОГРАФИИ

Джамилли Улкар Эльшан гизи

докторант Института рукописей имени Мухаммеда Физули Национальной Академии Наук Азербайджана,

https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0003-6692-0627

ABSTRACT

This article comparatively examines the geopolitical situation of Azerbaijan in the early eighteenth century through Azerbaijani and Russian historiography. It analyses Azerbaijan's place within the Safavid administrative system, its historical-geographical integrity, and the impact of the Safavid crisis, the Shirvan uprising, the Afghan invasion, and the collapse of central authority in 1722. The study also highlights the strategic importance of Azerbaijan's location, trade routes, silk production, and Baku oil in the policies of the Russian and Ottoman empires. It concludes that Azerbaijani historiography emphasizes Azerbaijan's historical-geographical unity within the Safavid state, whereas Russian historiography focuses primarily on its strategic and economic significance.

The article is published with the aim of introducing readers more deeply to the Azerbaijani point of view on the above-mentioned issues.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В данной статье проводится сравнительное исследование геополитической ситуации в Азербайджане в начале 18 века на основе азербайджанской и российской историографии. В исследовании анализируется место Азербайджана в административной системе Сефевидов, его историко-географическая целостность, а также влияние Сефевидского кризиса, Ширванского восстания, афганского вторжения и краха центральной власти в 1722 году. Исследование также подчеркивает стратегическое значение географического положения Азербайджана, торговых путей, производства шелка и бакинской нефти в политике Российской и Османской империй. В заключение делается вывод, что азербайджанская историография акцентирует внимание на историко-географическом единстве Азербайджана в рамках Сефевидского государства, в то время как российская историография в основном фокусируется на его стратегическом и экономическом значении.

Статья публикуется с целью глубже познакомить читателей с азербайджанской точкой зрения на перечисленную проблематику.

Keywords: Azerbaijan, Safavid state, geopolitical situation, historiography, Russian empire, Ottoman empire, 18th century.

Ключевые слова: Азербайджан, Сефевидское государство, геополитическая ситуация, историография, Российская империя, Османская империя, XVIII век

The Caucasus has long occupied a strategic geopolitical position, with Azerbaijan serving as a key political and military centre of the Safavid Empire. Founded in the early sixteenth century, the Safavid state is widely regarded as the first unified and centralized Azerbaijani state, which emerged as a major regional power through successful military and political expansion.

Prolonged Ottoman-Safavid conflicts devastated Azerbaijani territories and forced the transfer of the capital from Tabriz to Qazvin and later to Isfahan. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan remained the empire's military backbone, as the predominantly Azerbaijani Qizilbash tribes formed the core of the army and held leading military and administrative positions. Although European sources referred to the state as "Persia" because Persian was the language of official administration, Safavid documents continued to use the terms "Safavid State" and "Qizilbash State" until the mid-eighteenth century.

Abulhasan Rahmani argues that the Safavid state was divided into thirteen beylerbeyliks, four of which – Tabriz (Azerbaijan), Karabakh (Ganja), Shirvan, and Chukhursaad (Yerevan) – covered Azerbaijani territory. He also notes that Ardabil, as the Safavid dynasty's sacred hereditary domain, was administered separately as a waqf under a trustee appointed by the shah, while Khalkhal likewise remained under direct central authority [5, p. 89].

The fact that only one beylerbeylik bore the name "Azerbaijan" should not be understood to mean that the other beylerbeyliks lay outside Azerbaijan. This designation was administrative rather than geographical. After the Istanbul Treaty of 1590, Shah Abbas I established the Azerbaijan beylerbeylik centred on Tabriz, while Karabakh, Shirvan, and Chukhursaad were later restored as separate beylerbeyliks. Despite this administrative division, the term "Azerbaijan" continued to denote the wider region encompassing all these territories, including Ardabil.

Early eighteenth-century sources support this interpretation. Ivan Neplyuyev referred to Yerevan and Ganja as Azerbaijani lands, while Catholicos Yesai Hasan-Jalalyan recorded that Karabakh's tax administration was supervised by the vizier of the province of Azerbaijan. This suggests that the Azerbaijani beylerbeyliks formed a unified administrative-political space under Tabriz's coordinating role.

This unity became even clearer under Nadir Shah Afshar, who merged Tabriz, Karabakh, Shirvan, Chukhursaad, and Ardabil into a single Azerbaijan beylerbeylik, reaffirming Azerbaijan's status as a distinct historical-geographical and administrative entity.

In modern Azerbaijani historiography, Tofig Mustafazade argues that seventeenth and eighteenth century sources used the name "Azerbaijan" for a broad historical-geographical region including Tabriz, Karabakh, Shirvan, Chukhursaad, and Ardabil. His analysis demonstrates that the toponym was not confined to the territories south of the Araz River and predates the twentieth century [1, p.40].

By the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the Safavid state had entered a deep economic and political crisis. Heavy taxation, feudal exploitation, and weak central authority triggered widespread unrest, while religious discrimination further intensified resistance in Sunni-majority regions.

One of the most significant uprisings occurred in Shirvan under the leadership of Haji Davud, who united broad support against Safavid policies. Allied with Surkhay Khan of Qazi-Qumukh and later Ali Sultan of Ilisu, the rebels captured Shabran and Khudat in 1720 and seized Shamakhi in August 1721. The capture of the city was accompanied by looting, during which several Russian merchants were killed and their property was plundered.

According to official sources, the total material damage suffered by Russian merchants in Shamakhi was estimated at 236,420 rubles (472,840 tumans). The person who suffered the heaviest loss was the merchant Matvey Yevreinov, whose loss amounted to 176,996 rubles 22 altyn (353,993 tumans 22 altyn) [4].

A key source on the events in Shamakhi is the confidential dispatch of 8 February 1722 by Russia's representative in Istanbul, Ivan Neplyuyev. He reported that the rebels had initially guaranteed the safety of Russian merchants but later killed about 20-25 of them and confiscated goods worth around 115,000-118,000 levki after discovering that they had concealed the property of Safavid merchants.

Neplyuyev further noted that, after capturing Shamakhi, the rebels sought Ottoman protection, recognized Sultan Ahmed III's authority, and had coins struck and the Friday sermon read in his name. The Dutch ambassador Colyer confirmed these contacts, although the Ottoman government officially claimed that its aim was to suppress the revolt and restore Safavid authority.

Meanwhile, the Safavid state faced a growing Afghan threat. After ending Safavid rule in Kandahar in 1709, Mir Mahmud led the Ghilzai forces against Isfahan. Following the Safavid defeat at Gulnabad (8 March 1722), Isfahan fell on 22 October 1722, and Shah Sultan Husayn abdicated in favour of Mir Mahmud. Although Tahmasp II proclaimed himself shah, his authority was limited, leaving the empire without effective central control.

The collapse of Safavid authority created a power vacuum that intensified the rivalry between the Russian and Ottoman empires for influence in the South Caucasus, particularly in Azerbaijan. Owing to its strategic location on major trade routes and its valuable resources – including silk, dried fruits, and Baku oil – Azerbaijan became a primary object of their geopolitical competition.

Historians have highlighted Azerbaijan's role in the international silk trade and the Russo-Ottoman rivalry over the region. Drawing on Artemy Volynsky's records (1716-1718), Fuad Aliyev shows that the Ottoman Empire sought to redirect the Safavid silk trade through its territory, reflecting competing Russian and Ottoman interests. Sergey M. Solovyov likewise emphasizes that control of the silk trade was a central issue in Russo-Safavid relations. [3, p.24; 6, p.366].

The question is also addressed, in the context of Russia's Caucasus policy, in the research of O. Alizade. Assessing the policy pursued by Peter I towards the Caucasus in the early eighteenth century in terms of protective and expansionist aims, the author considers the dispatch of A.Volynsky to the Safavid state to be one of the important diplomatic stages of this policy. As O.Alizade notes, Peter I appointed Colonel A.Volynsky, one of his close associates, as ambassador to the Safavid state and officially tasked him with concluding a trade agreement with the Safavid government. The researcher links this diplomatic mission not only to the development of bilateral trade relations but also to the broader strategy Russia was pursuing to strengthen its political and economic position in the Caucasus [2, p.107].

Azerbaijan's economic importance was reinforced by the presence of the Safavid state's two major silk-producing centres, Shirvan and Ganja. Shirvan silk was a major source of state revenue, while Baku oil had both economic and military value, making it a strategic objective for Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Peter I regarded control of Baku oil as a priority, and a 1738 report by the Russian consul Arapov noted that the Ottomans were transporting it for military use.

Azerbaijan's strategic significance also derived from its location at the crossroads of the South Caucasus, the Caspian basin, and Iran. For Russia, it offered a base for expansion towards Iran to establish political stability on the southern borders, while for the Ottoman Empire it was essential for securing its eastern frontier of that time and maintaining influence in the South Caucasus by the inertia of its successful policy of conquest in earlier centuries. Thus, Azerbaijan's resources and strategic position made it a principal arena of Russo-Ottoman rivalry in the early eighteenth century.

Conclusion. Historiographical analysis shows that Azerbaijan's geopolitical position in the early eighteenth century has been interpreted differently in Azerbaijani and Russian scholarship. Azerbaijani historians, including A. Rahmani, F. Aliyev, and T. Mustafazade, emphasize Azerbaijan's historical-geographical unity within the Safavid state, arguing that Tabriz, Karabakh, Shirvan, Chukhursaad, and Ardabil formed a single Azerbaijani space despite their administrative division.

Russian historiography, represented by authors such as I.Neplyuyev, A.Volynsky, and S.M.Solovyov, examines the period mainly through Russia's political and economic interests in the Caspian region, highlighting the struggle for Azerbaijani silk, trade routes, and strategic influence.

Both historiographical traditions agree that the Safavid collapse in 1722 intensified Russo-Ottoman rivalry and increased Azerbaijan's importance because of its strategic location and economic resources. While Azerbaijani historiography stresses historical-geographical continuity, Russian scholarship emphasizes strategic and economic considerations. Together, these perspectives provide a more balanced understanding of Azerbaijan's geopolitical position in the early eighteenth century.

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