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Ganja (; Azerbaijani: Gəncə [ɟænˈdʒæ] ⓘ) is Azerbaijan's third largest city, with a population of around 335,600. The city has been a historic and cultural center throughout most of its existence. It was the capital of the Ganja Khanate until 1804; after Qajar Iran ceded it and most other Iranian territories in the Caucasus to the Russian Empire following the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, it became part of the administrative divisions of the Georgia Governorate, Georgia-Imeretia Governorate, Tiflis Governorate, and Elizavetpol Governorate. Following the dissolution of the Russian Empire and the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, it became a part of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, followed by the Azerbaijan SSR, and, since 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The name Ganja derives from the Persian word ganj (Middle Persian: ganj), meaning "treasure" or "treasury". It was called Janza in Arabic sources and Gandzak in Armenian sources. The explanation that the city was named this after its founder discovered treasure nearby (see below) is considered a folk etymology. According to one view, the city may have been named after Ganzak, the pre-Muslim capital of Adurbadagan. The city was renamed Yelizavetpol (Russian: Елизаветпо́ль, romanized: Yelizavetpól', IPA: [jɪlʲɪzəvʲɪtˈpolʲ]) in 1813, when it was part of the Russian Empire. After its incorporation into the Soviet Union, it was initially renamed back to Ganja (Gyandzha) in 1924, but in 1935 the name was changed again to Kirovabad (Russian: Кироваба́д, romanized: Kirovabád, IPA: [kʲɪrəvɐˈbat]) in honor of the Soviet politician Sergei Kirov, a name which the city retained throughout most of the rest of the Soviet period. In 1989, during perestroika, the city regained its original name of Ganja (Azerbaijani: Gəncə), which is known as Gyandzha (Гянджа, Russian pronunciation: [ɡʲɪnˈdʑa]) in Russian, Gyanja (Գյանջա) or Gandzak (Գանձակ) in Armenian, and Ganjeh (گنجه) in Persian.
According to the anonymous medieval Arabic history Tarikh Bab al-abwab, the city of Ganja was founded in 859–60 by Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mazyad, the Arab governor of the region during the reign of the caliph Al-Mutawakkil, and so-called because of a treasure unearthed there. According to the legend, the Arab governor had a dream where a voice told him that there was a treasure hidden under one of the three hills around the area where he camped. The voice told him to unearth it and use the money to found a city. He did so and informed the caliph about the money and the city. The caliph made Muhammad the hereditary governor of the city on the condition that he would give the money he found to the caliph. The foundation of the city by the Arabs in the 9th century is supported by the medieval Armenian historian Movses Kaghankatvatsi, who mentions that the city of Ganja was founded in 846–47 in the canton of Arshakashen by "Mahmed son of Xałtʿ" (i.e., Muhammad ibn Khalid). The 14th-century Persian historian Hamdallah Mustawfi instead claims that the city was founded in 659–60, when the Arab armies first arrived in the South Caucasus.
However, the Persian origin of Ganja's name suggests that there was an older pre-Islamic town there. According to some sources, it changed hands between Persians, Khazars and Arabs even in the 7th century. The area in which Ganja is located was known as Arran from the 9th to 12th century; its urban population spoke mainly in the Persian language.
Historically an important city of the South Caucasus, Ganja has been part of the Sassanid Empire, Great Seljuk Empire, Kingdom of Georgia, Atabegs of Azerbaijan, Khwarezmid Empire, Il-Khans, Timurids, Qara Qoyunlu, Ak Koyunlu, the Safavid, the Afsharid, the Zand and the Qajar empires of Persia/Iran. Prior to the Iranian Zand and Qajar rule, following Nader Shah's death, it was ruled locally for a few decades by the khans of the Ganja Khanate, who themselves were subordinate to the central rule in mainland Iran and were a branch of the Iranian Qajar family. Ganja is also the birthplace of the famous Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi.
The people of Ganja experienced a temporary cultural decline after an earthquake in September 1139, when the city was taken by king Demetrius I of Georgia and its gates taken as trophies which is still kept in Georgia, and again after the Mongol invasion in 1231. The city was revived after the Safavids came to power in 1501 and incorporated all of Azerbaijan and beyond into their territories. The city came under brief occupation by the Ottomans between 1578–1606 and 1723–1735 during the prolonged Ottoman-Persian Wars, but nevertheless stayed under intermittent Iranian suzerainty from the earliest 16th century up to the course of the 19th century, when it was forcefully ceded to neighbouring Imperial Russia.
For a short period, Ganja was renamed Abbasabad by Shah Abbas after war against the Ottomans. He built a new city 8 kilometres (5 miles) to the southwest of the old one, but the name changed back to Ganja during the time. During the Safavid rule, it was the capital of the Karabakh province. In 1747, Ganja became the center of the Ganja Khanate for a few decades following the death of Nader Shah, until the advent of the Iranian Zand and Qajar dynasties. The khans/dukes who de facto self-ruled the khanate, were subordinate to the central rule in mainland Iran and were from a branch of the Iranian Qajar family.
From the late 18th century, Russia actively started to increase its encroachments into Iranian and Turkish territory to the south. Following the annexation of eastern Georgia in 1801, Russia was now keen to conquer the rest of the Iranian possessions in the Caucasus. Russian expansion into the South Caucasus met particularly strong opposition in Ganja. In 1804, the Russians, led by General Pavel Tsitsianov, invaded and sacked Ganja, sparking the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Some western sources assert that "the capture of the city was followed by a massacre of up to 3,000 inhabitants of Ganja by the Russians". They also claim that "500 of them were slaughtered in a mosque where they had taken refuge, after an Armenian apprised the Russians that there might have been 'Daghestani robbers' among them".
With their military superiority, the Russians were victorious in the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. By the Treaty of Gulistan that followed, Iran was forced to cede the Ganja Khanate to Russia. The Iranians briefly managed to oust the Russians from Ganja during the 1826 offensive during the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, but the resulting Treaty of Turkmenchay made its inclusion into the Russian Empire permanent. It was renamed Yelizavetpol (Елизаветполь) after the wife of Alexander I of Russia, Elizabeth, and in 1840 became the capital of the Elizavetpol uezd and later in 1868, the Elizavetpol Governorate. The Russian name of the city was rejected by the local Azerbaijanis, who continued call it Ganja.
Ganja—known then as Yelizavetpol—was one of the main sites of the Armenian–Tatar massacres of 1905–07. In 1918, Ganja became the temporary capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, at which point it was renamed Ganja again, until Baku was recaptured from the British-backed Centrocaspian Dictatorship. In April 1920, the Red Army occupied Azerbaijan. In May 1920, Ganja was the scene of an abortive anti-Soviet rebellion, during which the city was heavily damaged by fighting between the insurgents and the Red Army. In 1935, Joseph Stalin renamed the city Kirovabad after Sergei Kirov. In 1991, Azerbaijan re-established its independence, and the ancient name of the city was given back. For many years the 104th Guards Airborne Division of the Soviet Airborne Troops was based in the town.
In November 1988, the Kirovabad pogrom forced the local Armenian population to leave the city.
Reconstruction in the 21st century has led to dramatic changes in the city's urban development, transforming the old Soviet city into a hub of modern high-rise, mixed-use buildings.
In 2008, Ganja Mausoleum Gates were built on the basis of sketches of ancient Ganja gates made by local master Ibrahim Osmanoğlu in 1063.
In 2020, during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ganja came under bombardment by Armenian armed forces several times, killing 32 civilians and injuring dozens more. On 11 October, a residential apartment block in Azerbaijan's city of Ganja was destroyed overnight in an Armenian missile strike, killing 10 civilians and wounding 34 others. The Armenian MoD denied that this came from its territory, while Artsakh stated that Armenian forces had targeted and destroyed the Ganja military airbase on Ganja International Airport, which they alleged was used to bombard Artsakh's capital Stepanakert and also stated that the Azerbaijani population were given warning to move away from military facilities to avoid collateral damage. Subsequently, both a correspondent reporting from the scene for a Russian media outlet and the airport director denied that the airport, which had not been operational since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had been shelled. On 17 October, 21 civilians were killed and more than 50 injured when an Armenian SCUD B ballistic missile hit a residential area in Ganja.
Ganja, located 400–450 meters (1,310–1,480 ft) above the sea level, lies on the Ganja-Dashkasan plain in the Kur-Araz lowland in the west of Azerbaijan, 375 km (233 mi) away from Baku. It is situated at the north-eastern foothills of the Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges on the Ganjachay river.
The city borders on the administrative rayons of Goygol to the south, west and north-west and Samukh to the north-east.
Ganja has a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk), with an average annual precipitation of 241 millimetres (9.5 in), though annual precipitation varies in different years, ranging from 160 mm (6.3 in) in 1932 to 1,133 mm (44.6 in) in 1988. Winters are cold and may see snow, with 14 days per year in which snow cover is observed. Blizzard is seen in 0.2 days annually.
Today, Ganja is divided into 2 rayons (administrative districts). The mayor, presently Niyazi Bayramov embodies the executive power of the city. Ganja includes 6 administrative settlements, namely Hajikend, Javadkhan, Shikhzamanli, Natavan, Mahsati and Sadilli.
Kapaz District (Kəpəz rayonu) was established on 21 November 1980 according to the decision of Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR. The district consists of 2 administrative territorial units and 6 administrative settlements. It has an area of approximately 70 square kilometers (750,000,000 square feet)mi) with the population of 178,000.
Nizami District (Nizami rayonu) was also established on 21 November 1980 according to the decision of Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR as Ganja raion of Kirovabad city. When Ganja's historic name was restored and the city was renamed as Ganja instead of Kirovabad in 1989, the district was also renamed as Nizami rayon. The district consists of 2 administrative territorial units. The area of the district is roughly 39 square kilometers (420,000,000 square feet)mi) and population is 148,000.
Ganja is the third largest city of Azerbaijan after Baku and Sumqayit with about 335,600 residents. The city is also inhabited by a large number of Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and IDPs from the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas. Their number was estimated to be more than 33,000 in 2011.
Lezgi people in Ganja number around 20,000.
In addition to Persian and Turkic-speaking Muslims, the city had a numerically, economically and culturally significant Christian Armenian community. The city's traditional Armenian name is Gandzak (Գանձակ), which derives from gandz (գանձ), a loan word from Old Iranian, which means treasure or riches. The founder of the Hethumid dynasty, Oshin of Lampron was an Armenian nakharar (prince) and lord of a castle near Ganja who fled to Cilicia in 1075 during the Seljuk invasion of Armenia.
The city's historically important Armenian figures include:
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ganja, Azerbaijan”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.