(Գանձակ) – 12 facts about the city of Ganja (Գանձակ) that will never be told in Azerbaijan:
1) “What does the word Ganja mean? ” (Գանձակ)
No Azerbaijani will be able to translate the word “Ganja” from his own language. (Գանձակ)
The word “Ganja” comes from Indo-European languages.
In Farsi, the word “ganj” means “treasure”.
In Armenian, the word “gandza” means “treasure”.
Georgians borrowed this word from Armenians and now in Georgian there is the word “gandzeruli”, which also means “treasure”. But in Turkic languages this word is missing.
2) “in what century was the city of Ganja founded? ”
Ganja founded in the 9th century.
3) “Where were the Azerbaijanis or Turks in the 9th century when this city was founded? ”
In the 9th century, when the city of Ganja was founded, in the Zakat, in Iran, on the Armenian Highlands, in the Small Asia, there was not a single Turk. During this period, the Turks still lived in Central Asia, in the province of Turkestan, in the Oguz region, which was on the border of modern Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
4) “which country was the city of Ganja in the 9th century when it was founded? ”
In the 9th century, when this city was founded, it was part of the Arab Caliphate state, inside which, administratively, was part of the Armenian Emirate, inside which was part of the Arshakashen region (Al-Armenia Emirate).
In other words, in the 9th century, when it was founded, it was part of Armenia.
5) “in the city of Ganja in the 13th century lived the great poet Nizami. Who was he by nationality and did he write anything about his hometown? ”
He was a Persian in the bottom of his nationality. Yes, he wrote about his hometown. So, in his work “Khosrov and Shirin”, Nizami wrote that his hometown Ganja is in Armenia. And in this piece, he wrote that in the vicinity of the city there was an Armenian monastery, in which monks lived, who met the Persian King Khosrov. Also, in this work, Nizami wrote that Shirin is the princess of Armenia, who lived in Ganja.
6) “Apart from the Persian Nizami, was there any other famous historical figure of culture from the city of Ganja? ”
Yes, in addition to Nizami, in the city of Ganja, was born, lived and created a great Armenian writer of the 13th century – Kirakos Gandzaketsi. His books are considered one of the most outstanding works of Armenian medieval literature.
7) “what was the historical national team of Ganji? ”
The first census in Ganja was conducted in 1710. This census showed that 80,000 people lived in Ganja and its district, of which 60,000 were Armenians (75% of the population).
15,000 Armenian soldiers were supposed to be collected from them.
Then the population of Ganji fell several times due to the invasion of Ottoman troops.
The second census was carried out in 1892 and it showed only 25,758 residents in the city, out of which 10,524 Armenians (41% of the city’s population).
“what quarters did the city of Ganja consisted of? ”
There were 15 blocks in the city of Ganja, of which:
7 Armenian quarters.
4 Turkic quarters
2 mixed Armenians – Turkic quarters
1st quarter of Persid
1 Russian Quarter
9) “When did Ganja join Azerbaijan for the first time in history? ”
For the first time in history, Ganja joined the self-proclaimed Azerbaijan in June 1918, when Zakavkazia was occupied by Turkish troops.
10) “what was the status of the city of Ganja in the Soviet years? ”
Until 1936, the city of Ganja was part of the Zakat Federal Republic and in the city, on an official level, there were 3 languages:
Armenian, Russian and Turksic.
All state institutions of the city – registration, courts, etc. , issued documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) to Armenians in Armenian.
11) “how many Armenian refugees from the city of Ganja these days? ”
Nowadays, there are about 100,000 Armenian refugees and their descendants from the city of Ganja and its suburbs.
That is, there are 2 times more Armenian refugees from the city of Ganja alone than Azerbaijani refugees from all over Nagorno-Karabakh.
12) “when and how did Azerbaijanis first settle in Ganja? ”
The answer to this question is given by the Azerbaijani (Turkish) author of the 18-19 centuries, Mirza Jevanshire. In his book he writes:
Hulagu Khan relocated 200 thousand Turkic families from Turkestan to Persia. Later, 50 thousand of them were relocated from Persia to Armenia, where they were relocated to Nakhichevan, Yerevan, Karabakh and Ganja. Over time, they reproduced even more there.”
50 thousand families – that’s about 300 thousand people.
200 thousand families are about 1.2 million people.
Turkestan is Middle Asia.
Hulagu Khan is a Mongolian ruler of 14-15 centuries.
Turkic families are the ancestors of Azerbaijanis.
The entire population of Persia in the 14-15 centuries was no more than 5-6 million people. That is 1.2 million Turkestan immigrants for Persia 14-15 centuries – this is a colossal figure.
It is interesting, but for Mirz Jevanshir, the fact that Ganja was on the territory of Armenia was also not a secret.
PS
Fun fact :
Ancient Greek author Strabon, who lived 2 thousand years ago, wrote about the region, on which today the city of Ganja is located:
“Shakashen is the best land in Armenia.”
