The culture of Azerbaijan () combines a diverse and heterogeneous set of elements which developed under the influence of Turkic, Iranic and Caucasian cultures. Azerbaijani culture includes its distinct cuisine, literature, folk art, and music. Its culture continues to be influenced by its geographical location in the Caucasus.
History
Azerbaijan is the modern name of a historic, geographic region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, formerly known as Aran (or Ardan) by Persian empires and Albania by the Greeks. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea on the east, Dagestan on the north, Georgia on the northwest, Armenia and Turkey on the southwest, and Iran on the south. Although Azerbaijan is home to a number of ethnic groups, ten million people are Azerbaijanis.
The heritage, culture, and civilization of Azerbaijan have ancient and modern roots. Its people are believed to be descendants of ancient peoples who include indigenous Caucasian Albanian tribes, such as the Scythians and Alans, and the later Oghuz Turks.
Caucasian Albania
Caucasian Albanians are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the land, north of the Aras, which is present-day Azerbaijan. Early arrivals included the Iranian Scythians during the 9th century BC. The South Caucasus was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire around 550 BC. Zoroastrianism was already prevalent among the Medes in the lands surrounding the Aras. The Achaemenids were defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. After the fall of the Seleucid Empire in Persia in 247 BC and its succession by the Parthian Empire, the Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the 1st century BC and remained largely independent under Parthian rule until the Sasanian Empire made the kingdom a province in 252 AD. The Arsacid king Urnayr adopted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century, and Caucasian Albania was a Christian state until the eighth century. Sasanid control ended with their defeat by Muslim Arabs in 642.
Islamic period
For centuries before Islam arrived in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, the region was under Sassanid Iranian rule; before that, it was ruled by Parthian Iranians. Muslim Arabs defeated the Sassanids and the Byzantine Empire as they marched into the Caucasus. They made Caucasian Albania a vassal state after Christian resistance, led by Prince Javanshir, surrendered in 667. Between the ninth and 10th centuries, Arab authors referred to the region between the Kura and Aras as Arran. Arabs from Basra and Kufa came to Aran, seized lands abandoned by the indigenous peoples, and became a land-owning elite. Despite pockets of continued resistance, most inhabitants of Azerbaijan converted to Islam. During the 10th and 11th centuries, the Kurdish Shaddadid and Rawadid dynasties ruled portions of Aran.
Seljuks and successor states
The Seljuk Empire may have been more pivotal than Azerbaijan's Arab conquest since it helped shape the identity of modern Azerbaijani Turks. After the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate, Azerbaijan was ruled by the Iranian Sallarid, Sajid, and Shaddadid dynasties. At the beginning of the 11th century, waves of Oghuz Turks arrived from Central Asia. The first ruling Turkic dynasty was the Ghaznavids, from present-day northern Afghanistan, who took over part of Azerbaijan by 1030. They were followed by the Seljuks, a western branch of the Oghuz, who conquered Iran and the Caucasus pressing on to Iraq and overthrowing the Buyid dynasty in Baghdad in 1055.
Shirvanshahs
Shīrwān Shāh, or Sharwān Shāh, was the title in medieval Islamic Azerbaijan for the ruler of the Shirvan region. The Shirvanshahs established a dynasty which ruled Aran and parts of Dagestan, in addition to Shirvan, and was one of the Islamic world's longest-lasting dynasties.
Safavids and the rise of Shia Islam
The Safaviyeh was a Sufi religious order formed during the 1330s by Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252–1334), for whom it was named. The order converted to the Twelver branch of Shia Islam by the end of the 15th century. Some Safaviyeh, notably the Qizilbash Turks, believed in the mystical and esoteric nature of their rulers and their relationship to the house of Ali and were predisposed to fight for them. The Safavid dynasty claimed to be descended from Ali and his wife, Fatimah (daughter of Muhammad), through the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim. The Qizilbash increased in number increased by the 16th century; their generals were victorious against the Ak Koyunlu confederation, and captured Tabriz. Safavid Iran, led by Ismail I, expanded its base, sacking Baku in 1501 and persecuting the Shirvanshahs.
