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30,000 BCE
Guruchay culture of Azykh Cave
Six-cave complex in Azerbaijan, known as a habitation site of prehistoric humans. It is situated near the formerly Armenian-majority village of Azykh, part of Nagorno-Karabakh. The cave is an important prehistoric site, which has been occupied by different human groups for a long time. The ancient layers of the Middle Paleolithic have yielded Neanderthal fossil remains that may date from around 300,000 years ago. -
84
Roman conquests
Azerbaijan was on the border of Roman conquests, and the Roman army came to the area more than once - sometimes as enemies, sometimes as allies. Between 84-96 AD one of the officiers of the 12th legion left the famous inscription in Gobustan which reads as follows: "At the time of Emperor Domitian Caesar Augustus Germanicus Lucius Julius Maximus (centurion) of the Legio XII Fulminata". -
252
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire turned Caucasian Albania into a vassal state in 252 -
300
Christianity officially adopted as the state religion
After Sasanian Empire turned Caucasian Albania into a vassal state in 252, King Urnayr officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. -
795
Bābak Khorramdin
795 - 7.01.838 one of the main Iranian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian "Those of the joyous religion", which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. He was a compound analogous to dorustdin orthodoxy and Behdin "Good Religion" (Zoroastrianism), and are considered an offshoot of neo-Mazdakism. Babak's Iranianizing rebellion, from its base in Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. Babak's uprising showed the continuing strength in Azerbaijan of ancestral Iranian local feelings. -
1141
Nizami Ganjavi (Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī)
1141 - 1209 Nezāmi was a 12th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet. Nezāmi is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. His heritage is widely appreciated and shared by Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran, the Kurdistan region and Tajikistan. Monument in Baku. -
1150
Ramana Tower
Tower in Ramana village dates back to the 12th century. The height of the tower is 15 metres. Exact construction date of the tower, which is built of white stone, is unknown. It is considered that the tower was built for the purpose of defense and used as a castle during the Shirvanshahs’ reign. -
1150
Maiden tower built
12th-century monument in the Old City of Baku. It is one of Azerbaijan's most distinctive national emblems, and is thus featured on Azerbaijani currency notes and official letterheads. -
1382
Ibrahim I (Shirvanshah)
King of Shirvan from 1382 to 1417. -
1400
Shirvanshah palace built
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1418
Khalilullah I (Shirvanshah)
King of Shirvan from 1418 to 1465. Burial in Palace of the Shirvanshahs -
1465
Farrukh Yasar (Shirvanshah)
King of Shirvan from 1465 to 1500. -
Period: 1578 to
Ottoman-Safavid War
The Sunni Ottomans briefly managed to occupy parts of present-day Azerbaijan as a result of the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578–1590 -
Period: to
First Russo-Persian War
Persian victory. Safavids destroy the Russian fortress on the Persian side of the Terek River and expel its garrison. -
Period: to
Second Russo-Persian War
Russian victory. Russia gains possession of Derbent, Baku, Shirvan and the modern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Astarabad, but returns all territories to Persia in the Treaties of Resht and Ganja. In the wake of the demise of the Safavid Empire, Baku and its environs were briefly occupied by the Russians as a consequence of the Russo-Persian War. -
Period: to
Third Russo-Persian War (1796)
Status quo ante bellum. -
Period: to
Fourth Russo-Persian War
Russian victory. Treaty of Gulistan[37] – Persia cedes what is now Georgia, Dagestan, parts of northern Armenia and most of what now comprises modern Azerbaijan to Russia. The siege of Ganja Fortress in 1804 during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Following Qajar Iran's loss in the 1804–1813 war, it was forced to concede suzerainty over most of the khanates, along with Georgia and Dagestan to the Russian Empire, per the Treaty of Gulistan. -
Treaty of Gulistan
Peace treaty between the Russian Empire and Iran in the village of Gulistan (in Azerbaijan) as a result of the first full-scale Russo-Persian War. The peace negotiations were precipitated by the successful storming of Lankaran by General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky in 1813. It was the first of the series of treaties (the last being the Akhal Treaty) signed between Iran and Russia that forced Persia to cede or recognize Russian influence over the territories that formerly were part of Iran. -
Zeynalabdin Taghiyev (Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghi oghlu Taghiyev)
25.01.1821 - 1.09.1924 Azerbaijani national industrial magnate and philanthropist. Taghiyev invested his fortune not only in the oil business but also in many other projects such as a textile factory and industrial fisheries along the shore of the Caspian Sea. After Sovietization in 1920 the country's wealthy suffered severe repressions from the Bolshevik government, resulting in the emigration of many of them. The Azerbaijan State Museum of History is located in the former Taghiyev mansion. -
Period: to
Fifth Russo-Persian War
Russian victory. Treaty of Turkmenchay – Persia cedes all of what is now Armenia, Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan to Russia. Qajar Iran to cede sovereignty over the Erivan Khanate, the Nakhchivan Khanate and Talysh Khanate, comprising the last parts of contemporary Azerbaijan that were still in Iranian hands. After the incorporation of all Caucasian territories from Iran into Russia, the new border was set at the Aras River, subsequently became part of the border between Iran and Azerbaijan. -
Turkmanchay treaty
Turkmanchay treaty between Russia, Persia divides Azerbaijan. Territory of present-day Azerbaijan becomes part of Russian empire while southern Azerbaijan is part of Persia. -
World's first oil well
World's first oil well is drilled south of Baku. -
Mirza Alakbar Sabir (Alakbar Zeynalabdin oglu Tahirzadeh)
30.05.1862 - 12.07.1911 Azerbaijani satirical poet, public figure, philosopher and teacher. He set up a new attitude to classical traditions, rejecting well-trodden ways in poetry. The artistic thought of the Azerbaijani people found expression in Fuzûlî's works. They have been examples of the lyric to this day, and the satirical trend in Azerbaijani literature, and especially in poetry. -
Nobel brothers
Nobel brothers set up oil-production company. -
Abdullah Shaig (Abdulla Mustafa oglu Talibzadeh)
25.02.1881 - 24.07.1959 Azerbaijani writer. Shaig managed literature with his teaching career. He was the author of many language and literature textbooks, published from 1909 through 1920. During the brief independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918–1920 he showed strong ideological support for the ruling party of Musavat. House museum in Baku. -
Uzeyir Hajibeyli (Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyli)
18.09.1885 - 23.11.1948 Uzeyir Hajibeyli was Azerbaijani composer, conductor, publicist, playwright, and social figure. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani composed classical music and opera. Uzeyir Hajibeyov composed the music of the national anthem of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (which was re-adopted in 1991). He also composed the anthem used during the Soviet period. He was the first composer of an opera in the Islamic world. House museum in Baku. -
Baku tramway network
Baku tramway network was a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Baku, now the capital city of Azerbaijan, between 1889 and 2004. -
Richard Sorge
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Bulbul (Murtuza Rza oglu Mammadov)
22.06.1897 - 26.09.1961 Bülbül was a famous Azerbaijani and Soviet opera tenor, folk music performer, and one of the founders of vocal arts and national musical theatre in Azerbaijan. Years active 1916–1961. In his songs, Bulbul was able to blend national manners of performance with traditions of Italian vocal school. Memorial museum in Baku. -
Suleyman Rahimov (Suleyman Huseyn oglu Rahimov)
4.04.1900 - 11.10.1983. Azerbaijani-Soviet writer, novelist, prosaist and politician. His creativity is closely linked to a great development period of the Azerbaijani prose. Rahimov's novels are among the noteworthy works of this genre. These novels are characteristic of covering epochal incidents, such as emotionalism, realism, psychology, and craftsmanship from the local folklore. Penname "Sangarli" (Səngərli, 1940s) -
Hamid Arasly (Hamid Mammadtaghi oglu Arasly)
23.02.1902 - 20.11.1983 Azerbaijani literary critic, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, and an academic at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. He is acknowledged as one of the most prominent literary critics and philologists of Azerbaijan. He authored some works focused on the relation between Azerbaijani literature and Persian, Turkish, Uzbek, and Turkmen literature. -
Samad Vurgun (Samad Yusif oghlu Vekilov)
21.03.1906 – 27.05.1956 Azerbaijani and Soviet poet, dramatist, public figure, first People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1943), academician of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (1945). The first poet in the literature history of Azerbaijan who was given the title “The Poet of Public”. House museum in Baku. -
Ibrahim Ibrahimov (Ibrahim Ibiş Oğlu Ibrahimov)
28.02.1912 - 6.11.1994 Azerbaijani Soviet mathematician, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR (1968), professor, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences.Since 1962, I. Ibragimov has been working on direct and inverse problems of the theory of best approximation in various infinite domains. Together with M. Keldysh, he found a criterion for the convergence of Newton's interpolation process in the entire class of entire functions. -
Niyazi (Niyazi Zulfugar oghlu Taghizade Hajibeyov)
20.08.1912 - 2.08.1984 Prominent Soviet Azerbaijani conductor, and composer of the renowned symphonic mugham "Rast", which achieved worldwide popularity and was included to the repertoire of many symphony orchestras around the world. Niyazi was the conductor and music director of the Azerbaijan State Symphony orchestra for 46 years, from 1938 to his death. House museum of Maestro Niyazi in Baku. -
Independent Azerbaijani Republic
Independent Azerbaijani Republic declared. -
March 1918 Massacre in Baku
Thousands of Azerbaijanis were killed in three days of slaughter at the end of March 1918, when Armenian nationalists went on the rampage in Baku. In this article Prof Atakhan Pashayev looks at events leading up to the massacre and at how Bolshevik leaders sought to play down its significance. Armenians gain privileges in Baku´s oil industry. -
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
22.04.1918 - 28.05.1918 was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as parts of Russia and Turkey. The state lasted only for a month before Georgia declared independence, followed shortly after by Armenia and Azerbaijan. -
Transcaucasian ruble (1919-1923)
The ruble (RUS, ARM), manat (AZE) or maneti (GEO) was the currency of both Transcaucasian states, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. -
First manat (1919–1923)
The first iteration of the currency happened in the times of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its successor, the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, with the issues happening in 1919-1923. The currency underwent hyperinflation, and was eventually substituted by the Transcaucasian ruble, which, in its turn, was converted to the Soviet ruble. In Soviet times, the common currency of the USSR was known as manat in Azeri language. -
Red Army invation
Red Army invades; Azerbaijan is declared a Soviet Socialist Republic. -
Tahir Teymur oğlu Salahov
29.11.1928 - 21.05.2021 Azerbaijani, Soviet and Russian painter and draughtsman. He was First Secretary of the Artists' Union of the USSR (1973–1992), Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, member of over 20 academies and other creative organizations throughout the world, including academies of art of France, Spain, Germany, and Austria. His later works are more peaceful and lyrically contemplative, and Eastern influences are more apparent. -
Vagif Mustafazadeh
16.03.1940 - 16.12.1979 Azerbaijani jazz pianist and composer, acclaimed for fusing jazz and the traditional Azerbaijani folk music known as mugham. According to many world famous jazz musicians, Mustafazadeh is one of the pioneers and "the architect of jazz in Azerbaijan". Legend of Jazz. Music Museum in Baku. -
Muslim Magometovich Magomayev
17.08.1942 - 25.10.2008 the "Soviet Sinatra", was a Soviet, Azerbaijani and Russian opera and pop singer. He achieved iconic status in Russia and the post-Soviet countries for his vocal talent and charisma. People's Artist of the USSR (1973). Magomayev was also known as a composer, writing several film soundtracks and songs. In addition, Magomayev acted in films and hosted television and radio broadcasts devoted to prominent musicians of the 20th century. -
Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum
Displays Azerbaijani carpets and rugs of various weaving techniques and materials from various periods. It has the largest collection of Azerbaijani carpets in the world. First opened on Neftchiler Avenue in 1967, it moved to a new building on the Baku's seafront park in 2014. -
Baku metro opening
Features typical ex-Soviet systems, including very deep central stations and exquisite decorations that blend traditional Azerbaijani national motifs with Soviet ideology. At present the system has 38.03 kilometres of bi-directional tracks, made up of three lines served by 26 stations. In 2015, it carried 222 million passengers, which yielded an average daily ridership of approximately 608,200. -
Independence from Soviet Union
30 August 1991 (declared) - as a consequence of the failed 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt in Moscow
18 October 1991 (independence) - Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence.
25 December 1991 (completed) - Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on 26 December 1991. -
Second manat (1992–2006)
The second manat was introduced on 15 August 1992.[1] It had the ISO 4217 code AZM and replaced the Soviet ruble at a rate of 10 rubles to 1 manat. From early 2002 to early 2005, the exchange rate was fairly stable. Starting in the spring of 2005 there was a slight but steady increase in the value of the manat against the US dollar; the reason most likely being the increased flow of petrodollars into the country. -
Azerbaijani alphabet
Latin script, replacing Ää with the historic Əə for better sorting, same as Turkish, except for Әə, Xx, and Qq. When compared to the historic Latin alphabet: Ğğ has replaced the historic Ƣƣ ; the undotted Iı has replaced the historic I with half-oval Ьь; the dotted İi has replaced the historic soft-dotted Ii; Jj has replaced the historic Ƶƶ; Öö has replaced the historic Ɵɵ; Üü has replaced the historic Yy; and Yy has replaced the historic Jј. -
First Nagorno-Karabakh war
20.02.1988 – 12.05.1994 (6 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, 1 day).
A ceasefire signed in 1994 in Bishkek was followed by two decades of relative stability, which significantly deteriorated along with Azerbaijan's increasing frustration with the status quo. Result: Armenian victory. Ceasefire agreement. Significant territorial gains for the Artsakh Republic. UNSC adopted resolutions. De facto independence of Republic of Artsakh and de facto unification with Armenia. -
Constitution adopted
First Constitution of independent Azerbaijan; adopted by popular referendum. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic founded in 1918 and existed 23 months until 1920 was not able to adopt its constitution. -
UNESCO listing of Palace of the Shirvanshahs
In 1992, new restoration works began. The author of the restoration project of the palace complex was Niyazi Rzayev. Restoration began from the throne room. In 2000, at the 24th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the historical part of the city of Baku, Icheri Sheher, along with the palace, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site from Azerbaijan. In 2006, the next restoration of the palace was completed. -
Third manat
On 1 January 2006, a new manat (ISO 4217 code AZN, also called the "manat (national currency)") was introduced at a ratio of 1 new manat to 5,000 old manat. From 1 October 2005, prices were indicated both in new manat and in old manat to ease the transition. Coins denominated in qəpik, which had not been used from 1993 onward due to inflation, were reintroduced with the re-denomination. Azerbaijani Manat symbol ₼. -
UNESCO listing of Gobustan
It was established in 1966, when the area was declared a national historical landmark of Azerbaijan in an attempt to preserve the prehistoric rock carvings, mud volcanoes and musical stones in the region. Gobustan State Reserve is very rich in archeological monuments. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape within the reserve, which covers an area of 537 ha, has more than 6,000 rock carvings, which depict people, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, etc. -
Gala State Historical Ethnographic Reserve
The museum is 1.5 ha in area and has rock paintings, pottery, household items, jewelry, weapons and coins belong to the ancient times of Azerbaijan. In this museum, there are more than 2,000 different archaeological and architectural monuments – mounds, seats of ancient settlements, burial places dating back to thousands of years ago. -
London-style taxi in Baku
By 2011 a thousand of a Chinese-made version of LTI's latest model, TX4, had been ordered by Baku Taxi Company. The plan is part of a program originally announced by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transportation to introduce London cabs to the capital, Baku. TX4 is a purpose-built taxicab (hackney carriage) manufactured by The London Taxi Company, a subsidiary of Geely Automobile of China. -
Flame towers of Baku built
The Flame Towers of Baku were built in 2013 and soon became one of the city’s most recognized symbols. A modern, glass-clad, high-rise complex composed of three towers resembling flames of a fire is home to an office plaza, a luxury hotel, many apartments, and shops. The Flame Towers have transformed the city’s skyline and quickly become iconic. -
UNESCO listing of Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace
The historic city of Sheki is located at the foot of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and divided in two by the Gurjana River. Its historic centre, rebuilt after the destruction of an earlier town by mudflows in the 18th century, is characterized by a traditional architectural ensemble of houses with high gabled roofs. The Khan Palace and a number of merchant houses reflect the wealth generated by silkworm breeding and the trade in silk cocoons from the late 18th to the 19th centuries. -
Second Nagorno-Karabakh war
27.09.2020 – 10.11.2020 (1 month and 2 weeks).
Armed conflict in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories.The Armenian population of the territories ceded to Azerbaijan as a result of the war was forced to flee to Armenia, sometimes torching their houses and slaughtering the livestock to prevent them from falling into Azerbaijani hands. Result: Azerbaijani victory. Ceasefire agreement signed. Russian peacekeeping forces deployed to the region.