In the beginning of the early Middle Ages, different local tribes whose origins lay in Turkic and Persian ethnic groups lived in Karabakh, which was divided into four major political and administrative provinces: Paytakaran, Uti, Artsahk, and Sunik (Sisakan). Research shows that the ethnic origin of the population living in these provinces was as follows:

1. Khazars, Balasiches, Balases, Huns, and Akasirs lived in Paytakaran province in Caucasian Albania. Although researchers consider Khazars to be close to Central Asian tribes, the others are attributed to Dagestan tribes.
2. The province of Uti was divided into two administrative regions: Sakasena and Girdiman (Gardman). Utis, Gargars, Tsavdeys, Saks, and other Turkic tribes lived in these regions. Kangars and Savirs settled in the regions from the fifth century A.D. The province of Sakasena, which covered the western lands of the Caucasian Albania state, included the present-day territories of Ganja-Karabakh, and even the regions of Zangazur and Goyche.[1] The name Sakasena is directly connected to the Sak/Saka tribes that migrated to Azerbaijan in the seventh century BC. This toponym was first used by Strabo as “Sakasena.” In subsequent writings, for example, by Pliny, the word appeared as Sakasana, and by Arrian, it was used as Sakasin.[2]
3. The province of Artsakh was divided into 12 small administrative units. The ethnic tribes living in this province were Albans, Gargars, Huns, Khazars, and Barsils.
4. Most of the population living in Sunik (Sisakan) province was Avtokhtons. After the fifth century A.D., Kangars also settled in this province.[3]

Both Arabic sources and Christian authors have provided certain information about the population, their language, as well as the rivers, mountains, and natural resources of Arran, including the Karabakh region, during the period of the Arab Caliphate. The information about the ethnic composition and language of the population living in Northern Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region, known as Albania, by ancient authors and Arran, by Arabic sources, is limited and confusing. Moreover, the limited facts about the languages used in the region found in the works of these authors have been interpreted by researchers in different ways, thus further complicating the existing ethnic picture. However, the analysis of Arabic sources allows us to make certain assumptions about the ethnic composition and the language of the population of Arran, including the Karabakh region.[4]

When referring to the population of Azerbaijan, Arabic sources generally call them “Turks.” It is not a coincidence that in the battlefields that took place both in the north and south of Azerbaijan, the main force fighting against the Arabs was the Turkic population. In the sources, they are mentioned separately as “Khazars” and “Turks.” In some cases, the phrase “Turks from Azerbaijan” is also encountered in the sources. Several Arabic sources refer to the ancient population of Azerbaijan as “Turks” while discussing events that occurred before the Common Era.[5] Turkic tribes have settled in the territory of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region, since ancient times, and their role increased with the invasions of the Huns, Sabirs, and Khazars in the early Middle Ages, and the Seljuks in the eleventh century.

As it seems above, in the first century A.D., the ethnic composition of the population of Karabakh consisted of militarily and politically powerful Turkic tribes. This factor is also important since it shows that Armenian demands concerning Nagorno-Karabakh are a historical lie and do not reflect reality.

The issue of the first Armenian homeland has not gotten accurate until the mid-twentieth century. Most scholars consider that Armenians have an Indo-European origin rather than a Caucasian one. Historical facts prove that in approximately the eighth and seventh century B.C., they began to move to the upper part of the Tigris-Euphrates basin from the Balkans and gradually settled around the basin of Lake Van.[6] According to Russian historian V.L. Velichko, some Armenians mixed with Jews after the collapse of Jerusalem. (In the sixth century B.C., the king of Babylon occupied Jerusalem, destroyed the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, and forced Jewish people to migrate).[7] The map printed in 1785 in Venice, which shows the borders of the Empire of Alexander the Great (336–323 BC), also illustrates that Armenians lived in Assyria and Mesopotamia, in the southeast part of Asia Minor.[8] Over time, the Armenians spread across Eastern Anatolia and along the border of Iran, mixed with different nationalities, and accepted the authority of various empires.

During the Arab Caliphate, Islam was accepted as a religion in Azerbaijan. The new religion spread quickly among the population of South Azerbaijan, Mugan, and Mil, on the Caspian Sea coast, along the Kura and Aras rivers, especially in the cities where people mostly worshipped Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Those who clearly understood ethical and moral privilege of Islam accepted it without hesitation. Thus, Islam spread rapidly in Azerbaijan, as well as in Karabakh. It was only in some highland areas and foothills that the spread of Islam was slow or not considered, which was related to Arab living conditions in the desert or steppe lands, as they found it hard to adapt to living in a mountainous area. In some mountainous parts of Azerbaijan, Christianity and Judaism, therefore, managed to survive.[9]

Over time, the Christian Albanians living in Upper Karabakh were grigorinized and assimilated as Armenians. Hence, they could live freely while paying a tax known as the jizya – a per capita yearly tax historically levied by Islamic states on specific non-Muslim populations living permanently in Muslim lands under Islamic law.[10]

At the beginning of the eighth century, Armenian Patriarch Ilya wrote a letter to Khalifa Abdul Malik (685–705) in which he indicated that there had been an uprising against the Arab Caliphate. Khalifa Abdul Malik sent the Caliphate army to Albania, resulting in the occupation of Barda and Caucasian Albania being brought to an end in 705 A.D. by the Arab Caliphate. The Albanian Church was placed under the control of the Armenian Church on the pretext that Albanian Christians had close links with Byzantium regarding religious rituals. From that time on, the Albanian Church was controlled by the patriarch of the Armenian Church, and the Christian population of Karabakh was grigorinized and exposed to cultural and ideological assimilation.[11]

[1] Bəkirova, Ellada, Albaniyanın qərb torpaqları (antik dövr) (Bakı: İdeal Print, 2021), pp. 66–68.

[2] Bəkirova, Albaniyanın qərb torpaqları, p. 66.

[3] Azərbaycan tarixi, Vol. 2, (2007), pp. 16–17.

[4] Ağayev, “Azərbaycanın Qarabağ bölgəsi,” p. 45.

[5] Ağayev, Ramil, Ərəb xilafəti dövründə Azərbaycanın əhalisi (Bakı: Turxan, 2017), pp. 141–157.

[6] Barthold, W., “Azerbaycan ve Ermenistan,” Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve tarih Coğrafiya Fakültesi Tarih Bölümü Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, Vol. 8–12, No. 14–23, 1970–1974, pp. 84–85. See also: Sakarya, İhsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu (Ankara: Genel Kurmay ATASE Yayıları, 1984), pp. 3–7. See also: Saray, Mehmet, “Ermenistan Yol Ayrımında,” Kafkas Araştırmaları, No. 2, 1996, p. 3. See also: Seyidova, Sevinc, “Ermənilərin mənşəyi və tarixinə dair,” Bakı Universitetinin Xəbərləri: Humanitar elmlər seriyası, No. 3, p. 167.

[7] Veliçko, Vasil Lvoviç, Qafqaz: Rus işi və tayfalararası məsələlər (translated by: Vasif Quliyev) (Bakı: “Azərbaycan” nəşriyyatı, 1995), pp. 46–47.

[8] “Old maps confirm Azerbaijani territory,” News.az, January 26, 2010; http://news.az/articles/ society/7485. Accessed on December 1, 2024.

[9] Azərbaycan tarixi, Vol. 2, (2007), pp. 204–210.

[10] Qeybullayev, Qarabağ (etnik və siyasi tarixinə dair), p.136.

[11] Bünyadov, Azərbaycan VII–IX əsrlərdə, p. 86–91.