{{Short description|City in Azerbaijan}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Barda | settlement_type = City & Municipality | native_name = Bərdə | image_skyline = {{multiple image | perrow = 1/2/2/2 | border = infobox | total_width = 350 | caption_align = center | image1 = Barda OldBridge 004 6883.jpg | caption1 = Ancient bridge | image2 = Bərdə İmamzadə.jpg | caption2 = Imamzadeh Mausoleum | image3 = Barda TowerMausoleum 004 6789.jpg | caption3 = Barda Mausoleum | image4 = Bərdə Cümə məscidi.jpg | caption4 = Barda Juma Mosque | image5 = Bərdə Rəsm qalareyacı binası.JPG | caption5 = State Art Gallery | image6 = Bərdə şəhərində yerləşən Z.Əliyeva adına park.jpg | caption6 = Sabir Garden Park | image7 = Bərdə İdman Kompleksi.jpg | caption7 = Barda Sports Center | color = }} | image_caption = | image_shield = | pushpin_map = Azerbaijan#Karabakh | pushpin_mapsize = 300 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Azerbaijan}} | subdivision_name1 = Barda | leader_title = | leader_name = | established_title = | established_date = | area_total_km2 = | area_footnotes = | population_as_of = 2010 | population_total = 41277 | population_footnotes = <ref>[http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-26&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=x World Gazetteer: Azerbaijan] {{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} – World-Gazetteer.com</ref> | population_density_km2 = | timezone = AZT | utc_offset = +4 | coordinates = {{coord|40|22|28|N|47|07|36|E|region:AZ|display=inline,title}} | elevation_m = 76 | area_code = +994 2020 | website = }} '''Barda''' ({{langx|az|Bərdə}} {{small|{{Audio|Az-Barda.ogg|(listen)|help=no}}}}) is a city and the capital of the Barda District in Azerbaijan, located south of Yevlax and on the left bank of the Tartar river. It served as the capital of Caucasian Albania by the end of the 5th century.{{sfn|Hoyland|2020|p=280}}{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=124}} Barda became the chief city of the Islamic province of Arran, the classical Caucasian Albania, remaining so until the 10th century.{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=779–780}}
==Etymology== The name of the town derives from ({{Langx|ar|برذعة|translit=Bardhaʿa}}){{citation needed|date=November 2016}} which derives from Old Armenian ''Partaw'' (Պարտաւ).<ref>Pourshariati, Parvaneh. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ&q=partav Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: the Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran]''. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008, p. 116, note 613.</ref> The etymology of the name is uncertain. According to the Iranologist Anahit Perikhanian, the name is derived from Iranian *''pari-tāva-'' 'rampart', from *''pari-'' 'around' and *tā̆v- 'to throw; to heap up'.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Périkhanian, Anahit G. "Этимологические заметки" [Notes on Etymology]. ''Patma-Banasirakan Handes'' 1 (1982), 77-80.</ref> According to the Russian-Dagestani historian Murtazali Gadjiev, however, the name means "Parthian/Arsacian" (cf. Parthian ''*Parθaυ''; Middle Persian: ''Pahlav''; Old Persian: ''Parθaυa-'').{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=124}} The name is attested in Georgian as ''Bardav[i]'' (ბარდავი).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rapp|first1=Stephen H.|title=The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature|date=2014|pages=182, 239, 341|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1472425522|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8VIBQAAQBAJ&q=rapp+inscription+kartir}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Vacca |first1=Alison |title=Non-Muslim Provinces under Early Islam: Islamic Rule and Iranian Legitimacy in Armenia and Caucasian Albania |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1316979853 |page=63}}</ref>
==History== {{Main|History of Barda}} ===Ancient=== According to ''The History of the Country of Albania'', the Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') of Iran, Peroz I ({{reign|459|484}}) ordered his vassal the Caucasian Albanian king Vache II ({{reign|440|462}}) to have the city of Perozapat ("the city of Peroz" or "Prosperous Peroz") constructed. However, this is unlikely as the Kingdom of Caucasian Albania had been abolished by Peroz after a suppressing a revolt by Vache II in the mid-460s.{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|pp=122–123}} The city was seemingly founded by Peroz himself after the removal of the ruling family in Caucasian Albania. Due to its more secure location, it was made the new residence of the Iranian {{lang|pal|marzban}} (margrave).{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=123}} Within Albania, it was located in the province of Utik.{{sfn|Hoyland|2020|p=44}} The city was most likely renamed Partaw (cf. Parthian ''*Parθaυ'') between 485–488 and became the new capital of Albania (thus replacing Kabalak) under Vachagan III ({{reign|485|510}}),{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=124}}{{sfn|Hoyland|2020|p=280}} who was installed on the throne by Peroz's brother and successor Balash ({{reign|484|488}}).{{sfn|Chaumont|1985|pp=806–810}}
Regardless, the city did not serve as the residence of the Albanian kings, and was a symbol of foreign rule.{{sfn|Hoyland|2020|p=70}} The city was fortified by ''shahanshah'' Kavad I ({{reign|488|496|498/9|531}}) and renamed Perozkavad ("victorious Kavad").{{sfn|Chaumont|1985|pp=806-810}}{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=124}} Nevertheless, the city was still referred to as Partaw.{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=124}} In 552, the city became the seat of the catholicos of the Church of Caucasian Albania.{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=124}} Partaw served as the residence of the Sasanian prince Khosrow (the future Khosrow II) after his appointment to the governorship of Albania by his father Hormizd IV ({{reign|579|590}}) in 580.{{sfn|Hoyland|2020|p=211}}{{sfn|Howard-Johnston|2010}} Partaw was most likely captured before 652 by the Rashidun Caliphate.{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=779–780}} It became known as Bardha‘a in Arabic.{{sfn|Gadjiev|2017|p=122}}{{sfn|Hoyland|2020|p=39}}
===Medieval=== [[File:Habib Allah ibn 'Ali ibn Husam - Alexander the Great in Nushabah-s Pavilion in Barda' - Walters W608269A.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Alexander the Great in Nushabah's Pavilion in Barda. From an illustrated manuscript of Nizami Ganjavi's ''Iskandarnameh'']] In ca. 789, it was made the second alternate capital (after Dvin) of the governor (''ostikan'') of the province of Arminiya.<ref>{{cite book | last = Ter-Ghevondyan | first = Aram N. | author-link = Aram Ter-Ghevondyan | others = Trans. Nina G. Garsoïan | title = The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia | publisher = Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation | location= Lisbon | year = 1976 | pages= 36–37}}</ref> Its governors strengthened the defenses of the city in order to counter the invasions of the Khazars attacking from the north.{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=779–780}} In 768, the Catholicos of All Armenians, Sion I Bavonats'i, convoked an ecclesiastical council at Partav,<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3baEAAAQBAJ |title = The Canons of the Synod of Partav |isbn = 9781088093047 |last1 = Curtin|first1 = D. P.|date = December 2013|publisher = Dalcassian Publishing Company }}</ref> which adopted twenty-four canons addressing issues relating to the administration of the Armenian Church and marriage practices.<ref name="ASE">{{in lang|hy}} Ulubabyan, Bagrat. s.v. "Partav," Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 9, p. 210.</ref> By the ninth to tenth centuries, Barda had largely lost its economic importance to the nearby town of Gandzak/Ganja; the seat of the Catholicos of the Church of Albania was also moved to Bardak (Berdakur), leaving Partav a mere bishopric.<ref name="ASE"/><ref>Kirakos Gandzaketsi. ''[http://rbedrosian.com/kg7.htm History of the Armenians]''. Trans. Robert Bedrosian.</ref> According to the Muslim geographers Estakhri, Ibn Hawqal, and Al-Muqaddasi, the distinctive Caucasian Albanian language (which they called al-Raniya, or Arranian) persisted into early Islamic times, and was still spoken in Barda in the 10th century.<ref>Bosworth, C. E. "[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arran-a-region Arrān]." Encyclopaedia Iranica.</ref> Ibn Hawkal noted that the people of Barda spoke Arranian,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://history.kubsu.ru/pdf/kn4_95-104.pdf|title=Арабские источники о населенных пунктах и населении Кавказской Албании и сопредельных областей (Ибн Руста, ал-Мукаддасий, Мас'уди, Ибн Хаукаль)|access-date=2011-11-17|archive-date=2009-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920030550/http://history.kubsu.ru/pdf/kn4_95-104.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> while Estakhri says that Arranian was the language of the "country of Barda."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Kavkaz/Karaulov/text1.htm|title=СБОРНИК МАТЕРИАЛОВ|website=www.vostlit.info}}</ref>
During this time, the city boasted a Muslim Arab population, as well as a substantial Christian community.{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=779–780}} Barda was even the seat of a Nestorian (Christian) Bishopric in the 10th century. Referring to events in the late 11th century, the 12th-century Armenian historian Matthew of Edessa described Partav as an "Armenian city ["K'aghak'n Hayots'"], which is also called Paytakaran and located near the vast [Caspian] Sea."<ref>Matthew of Edessa (1993). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sExoAAAAMAAJ&q=partaw Armenia and the Crusades: Tenth to Twelfth centuries: The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa]''. Trans. Ara E. Dosturian. Lanham: University Press of America, p. 151.</ref> Muslim geographers also described Barda as a flourishing town with a citadel, a mosque (the treasury of Arran was located here), a circuit wall and gates, and a Sunday bazaar that was called "Keraki," "Korakī" or "al-Kurki" (a name derived from Greek κυριακή [''kyriaki''], the Lord's Day and Sunday; the Armenian ''kiraki'' similarly derives from kyriaki).{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=779–780}}<ref>Wheatley, Paul. ''The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic lands, Seventh through the Tenth Centuries''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001, p 159.</ref><ref>Estakhri states that there was a Sunday bazaar in Barda, known locally as "Koraki," which in the opinion of a scholar George Bournoutian derives directly from the Armenian, not the Greek, rendition of the word Sunday ("Kiraki"). On this basis, Bournoutian speculates that the city still had a significant Armenian element during the tenth century: see Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi, ''Two Chronicles on the History of Karabagh: Mirza Jamal Javanshir’s Tarikh-e Karabagh and Mirza Adigozal Beg’s Karabagh-name''. Introduction and annotated translation by George A. Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2004, p. 40n2.</ref> In 914, the city was captured by the Rus, who occupied it for six months. In 943, it was attacked once more by the Rus and sacked.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=256}} This may have been a factor in the decline of Barḏa in the second half of the 10th century, along with the raids and oppression of the rulers of the neighboring regions, when the town lost ground to Beylaqan.{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=779–780}}
Centuries of earthquakes and, finally, the Mongol invasions destroyed much of the town's landmarks, with the exception of the 14th-century tomb of Ahmad Zocheybana, built by architect Ahmad ibn Ayyub Nakhchivani. The mausoleum is a cylindrical brick tower, decorated with turquoise tiles. There is also the more recently built Imamzadeh Mosque, which has four minarets.<ref>{{cite book|last=Turánszky|first=Ilona|title=Azerbaijan, mosques, turrets, palaces|year=1979|publisher=Corvina Kiadó|isbn=978-963-130321-6|pages=56}}</ref>
===Modern=== Agriculture is the main activity in the area. The local economy is based on the production and processing of cotton, silk, poultry and dairy products. The cease-fire line, concluded at the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, is just a few kilometers west of Barda, near Terter.
On 27 October 2020, Armenian missiles struck the city, killing at least 21 civilians, including a seven-year-old girl, and injuring 70 others.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Azerbaijan says 14 people killed by shelling in Barda: RIA|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-armenia-azerbaijan-karabakh/azerbaijan-says-14-people-killed-by-shelling-in-barda-ria-idUSKBN27D1IR|website=Reuters|date=28 October 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-10-28|title=Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Missile strike on Azeri town kills 21 civilians|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54722120|access-date=2020-10-28}}</ref> Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International verified the use of cluster munitions by Armenia.<ref name="amnestybarda">{{Cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/10/armenia-azerbaijan-first-confirmed-use-of-cluster-munitions-by-armenia-cruel-and-reckless/ |title=Armenia/Azerbaijan: First confirmed use of cluster munitions by Armenia 'cruel and reckless' |date=29 October 2020 |access-date=29 October 2020 |publisher=Amnesty International |language=en }}</ref><ref name="HRWbarda">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/30/armenia-cluster-munitions-kill-civilians-azerbaijan |title=Armenia: Cluster Munitions Kill Civilians in Azerbaijan |date=30 October 2020 |access-date=30 October 2020 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |language=en }}</ref>
== Notable residents == * Mihranids of Caucasian Albania: Javanshir, Varaz-Tiridates I. etc. * Arabic governors: Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj, etc. * Paykar Khan Igirmi Durt. Qizilbash chieftain in the service of Safavid Persia in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His career flourished in the southeastern Caucasus, where he ran the governments of Barda and Kakheti on behalf of Shah Abbas I until being overthrown in a Georgian uprising in 1625.
== References == {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite encyclopedia | title = Barḏaʿa | last = Bosworth | first = C. E. | author-link = Clifford Edmund Bosworth | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/bardaa-or-bardaa-arm | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, Vol. III, Fasc. 7 | pages = 779–780 | location = New York | year = 1988 }} * {{cite encyclopedia | last = Chaumont | first = M. L. | title = Albania | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/albania-iranian-aran-arm | year = 1985 | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 8 | pages = 806–810}} * {{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates | edition = Second }} * {{cite journal | last = Gadjiev | first = Murtazali |author-link= | title = Construction Activities of Kavād I in Caucasian Albania | journal = Iran and the Caucasus | year = 2017 | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 121–131 | url = https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/21/2/article-p121_2.xml | publisher = Brill | doi = 10.1163/1573384X-20170202 | url-access = subscription }} * {{cite encyclopedia | last = Howard-Johnston | first = James | title = Ḵosrow II | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khosrow-ii | year = 2010 | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition | access-date = 9 November 2013}} * {{cite book |last=Hoyland|first=Robert|title=From Albania to Arrān: The East Caucasus between the Ancient and Islamic Worlds (ca. 330 BCE–1000 CE) |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1463239886 |editor-last=|editor-first=|pages=1–405|chapter=|url=|url-access=}}
==Further reading== * {{cite encyclopedia | article = Bard̲h̲aʿa | first = Wilhelm | last = Barthold |author-link=Vasily Bartold| encyclopedia = E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume II: Bābā Fighānī–Dwīn | editor-first = Martijn Theodoor | editor-last = Houtsma | publisher = Brill | location = Leiden | year = 1987 | isbn = 90-04-08265-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rezD7rvuf9YC | page = 656}} * {{EI2 | title = Bard̲h̲aʿa | first = D.M. | last = Dunlop | authorlink = | volume = 1 | pages =1040–1041 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/bardhaa-SIM_1226}} * {{The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia}} * {{cite book|last=Ulubabyan |first=Bagrat |author-link=Bagrat Ulubabyan |year=1981 |title=Drvagner Hayotsʻ arevelitsʻ koghmantsʻ patmutʻyan |script-title=hy:Դրվագներ Հայոց արևելից կողմանց պատմության |trans-title=''Episodes from the history of the eastern regions of Armenia'' |location=Yerevan |publisher=Armenian Academy of Sciences|language=hy}}
==External links== * {{GEOnet2|32FA88151CEA3774E0440003BA962ED3}}
{{Barda Rayon}} {{Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Populated places in Barda District Category:Caucasian Albania Category:Capitals of former countries Category:Sasanian cities Category:Elizavetpol Governorate Category:Cities and towns in Azerbaijan Category:Peroz I