Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

A flag of the Nakhchivan khanate, established in 1747 and covering the area from Zangazur range of mountains to Araz river, was revealed during a recent scientific trip to a Russian museum.

A member of the Azerbaijani National Museum of History, Parvin Gozalov discovered the third flag of the Nakhchivan khanate during the studies at the Military-Historical Museum of Engineer and Signal Corps in St. Petersburg.

The flag was taken as a trophy during the battle and was taken to St. Petersburg by Russia general Ivan Paskevich in 1827. The flag is kept under the name of “Muslim flag of the 18th-19th centuries” at the museum.

In mid 2015, Gozalov found two flags belonging to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Khanate at the Russian Hermitage Museum.

The first flag was taken as a trophy by Major General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky at the Battle of Aslanduz. The flag is indicated in the archival documents of the State Hermitage as the “Trophy of the Battles of Years 1912, 1913, 1914”. The length of this flag is 145 cm, and the width is 159 cm.

The second flag of the Nakhchivan Khanate was in 1827 taken as a trophy by General Ivan Paskevich during the occupation of the khanate. The length of the flag is 178 cm, and the width is 144 cm.

The shape of Nakhchivan’s third flag is 92cm in width and 192cm in length. The rectangular state flag’s color is green and red. An eight-pointed star symbolizing the sun is sewn on the green side of the fabric.

In the second half of the 18th century there were independent and semi-dependent states named khanates in Azerbaijan. The birth of the first independent khanates in the territory of Azerbaijan dates back the 1740s. Some of them appeared after the fall of the rule of Nadir Shah while the others were established during his reign as a result of the struggle against Iran.

The Nakhchivan khanate was established by Heydarguly Khan of the Kangarli tribe. To strengthen the khanate and protect it from invasions, Heydarguly Khan (1747-1763/64) relied on the more powerful Garabagh khanate during the first years of his reign. Following Heydarguly Khan`s death, the Nakhchivan Khanate weakened as a result of struggle for power, which lasted till 1787 and became a target for fight among the khanates of Khoy, Garabagh, Erivan, Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and Iran.

Its center was Nakhichevan city and khanate had borders with Garabagh, Garadagh, Khoy, Maku and Iravan khanates. It was divided into mahals of Nakhichevan, Alinjachay, Mavazikhatun, Daralayaz, Khok etc. The area of khanate was annexed to Russia according to Turkmanchay Treaty of 1828.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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