The History of Azerbaijan is as diverse and interesting as the country itself. There are many phases with regard to the History of Azerbaijan. The ancient history of Azerbaijan states that several ancient tribes inhabited the land of Azerbaijan and some areas came to be known after these tribes: Caspian, Mannai, Media and Caucasian Albania.
Some of the states that emerged during the 3rd millennium BC were powerful and quite advanced, specially the Mannai and the Medes. In the 8th Century BC, the semi-nomadic tribes of Cimmerians and Scythians settled in the territory of Mannai. The Assyrians also had a civilization that flourished to the west of Lake Urmia.
The Caucasian Albanians were believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the country of Azerbaijan. The early invaders also included the Scythians in the 9th Century BCE. The South Caucasus was eventually conquered by the Achaemenid around 550 BCE and Zoroastrianism spread in Azerbaijan during this time. The Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the 1st Century BCE and largely remained independent until the Sassanids established a province in 252 CE. Sassanids control ended with their defeat by the Muslim Arabs in 642 CE. Later, Albania and Roman-Parthian rivalry took place and the Sassanian conquest took place. History of Azerbaijan states with the arrival of Christianity, Southern Caucasus was converted to Christianity by the 5th Century, while the other parts followed Zoroastrianism. The pre-Islamic Eurasian nomads came in Azerbaijan and the successive migration and settlement of Eurasian and Central Asian nomads continued to be a familiar pattern in the history of the Caucasus.
History of Azerbaijan reveals that later successively the Islamic Period came into existence with the Age of the Caliphs ruled by Prophet Mohammad and the Patriarchal Caliphate from 632 to 661.With the successive historical development of Azerbaijan, the collapse of the Russian Empire took place during First World War. Azerbaijan together with Armenia and Georgia became part of the short-lived Tran Caucasian Democratic Federative Republic. When the republic got dissolved in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence as Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Following the politics of Glasnost, the disturbances in Azerbaijan, in response to Moscow’s indifference already resulted in serious conflict, calling for independence and secession from USSR, which subsequently culminated in the events of Black January in Baku.Finally on October 18, 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence, which was affirmed by a nation-wide referendum taken in December 1991.
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