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Section 1. Archeology
https://doi.org/10.29013/ESR-20-3.4-3-6
Jafarova Elmira, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology and Etnography
Baku, Azerbaijan E-mail: [email protected]
THE MEDIEVAL CITIES OF SHIRVAN IN THE WORLD TRADE SYSTEM
Abstrart. The article considers the trade relations of the medieval cities and towns of Shirvan, which are confirmed by numerous artifacts - ceramics, glassware, decoration items found in cultural layers during archaeological excavations. Archaeological investigations confirm the integration of trade relations of medieval Azerbaijan in the Great Silk Road system and development in the context of world culture. "Strabo's Road" beginning from China and India through Central Asia reached the Caspian Sea and passed through the territory of Azerbaijan.
Keywords: Azerbaijan, Shirvan, the Middle Ages, trade relations, towns.
Introduction quent, which significantly changed the idea about the
The medieval cities of Azerbaij an make up a ma- world. Archaeological artifacts confirm the integration ny-sided structure with a high level of development of trade relations of medieval Azerbaijan in the Great
Silk Road system and development in the context of world culture. The "Strabo's Road" passed through Azerbaijan - beginning from China and India through Central Asia reached the Caspian Sea. In the towns and villages along the Great Silk Road through which the caravans passed, there were caravanserais (coaching inns) and there were hujras in them ("rest rooms"). Caravanserais were the place ofwholesale buying and sale. Caravanserais were located on the road from the Mount Besh Barmag in Baku - Derbent, Sangachal, Miajik and Khilmilli, as well as on the Shamakhy-Baku road [4, P. 385; 9, P. 82].
The Silk Road stimulated the need for Azerbaijani goods; so, in the 15th century the Bokhara caravanserai was built in Baku [7, P. 177]. In medieval towns, craftsmen were developing new types of crafts: the production of metal ware adopted from
of urban culture. The enlargement of settlements, the transformation of towns into metropolitan centers, in many respects determined their role in trade. Systematic archaeological investigations in Azerbaijan supplemented the information of written sources on the development of cultural ties of medieval towns [11. P. 355]. The development factor of medieval urban culture is expressed in the accumulation of rich factual material - ceramics, glassware, and decoration items found from cultural layers [3, P. 121-122; 5, P. 5; 2, P. 32-35]. Coin treasures and coins found in the territory of medieval towns also confirm the development of international trade relations ofAzer-baijan towns [2, P. 72-77].
The development of trade relations through the Silk Road was the beginning of a new information era and made intercultural contacts regular and more fre-
the East and glassware from the West [17, P. 17]. The civilizations ofthe East and West, drawing closer together through the Great Silk Road, were enriched, developing national traditions in interaction with the cultures of other peoples, which strengthened not only the information space, but also the development trends of international relations. This road played an enormous role in the rapprochement of the two continents, in the mutual cultural enrichment of many European and Asian peoples [17, P. 17]. The routes of world trade united a network of roads along which trade and economic ties between the countries of the East and West were carried out in the Middle Ages, covering almost the entire Eurasian continent, including the territory of Russia [6, P. 122; 10, P. 109-110].
The medieval towns of Shirvan were also linked by trade caravan routes, which are described in the sources and confirmed by archaeological artifacts -scale pans, metal and stone weights, set of weights and civil structures [1, P. 142; 4, P. 384; 14, P. 20]. The development of local trade is confirmed by samples of items from the Shabran ceramic school, moulds of stamped vessels, a complex of products with marks and names of masters found in Baku [1, P. 107; 13, P. 198]. Angobed vessels richly decorated with colored painting were brought to Baku from Gabala, Ganja, and Beylagan [7, P. 114]. Coins of the local mint of Derbent in single items are found in Shirvan, and coins of the Shirvanshahs are found in Beylagan [15, P. 114].
Archaeological investigations have confirmed that in the medieval period, from many countries art ceramics, especially faience and celadon were brought to Azerbaijan. Collections of celadon dishes confirm the presence of trade and cultural ties of the medieval towns of Shamakhy, Shabran and Baku with India, China and Iran [4, P. 140; 13, P. 72; 3, P. 405; 14, P. 19]. A special feature of these products is the presence of a greenish tint of glaze - "martabani" and the predominance of plant motifs - "Chinese porcelain". Researchers suggest that in the 12th-13th centuries,
Chinese dishes were brought to Azerbaijan through Central Asia and Iran [1, P. 179; 13, P. 174]. The findings ofChinese dishes in Baku are ofparticular interest. Among them, a Chinese porcelain plate with the image ofa dragon with a meandering tail filled the whole space; the image was made of cobalt and a chandelier vessel depicting a man dressed in a brocade dressing gown relatively stands out among products with a traditional floral ornament [16, P. 25,27; 7, P. 116]. Unlike Baku, China-made products found in Shamakhy and Shabran are endowed with floral ornaments. There are also images of flying birds. The economic and cultural ties of Shamakhy with the Central Asian towns in the 12th century are confirmed by synchronous vessels with stamped ornaments. A characteristic feature is the identity of images with products from Merv [12, P. 72].
Running of international trade routes from south to north had greatly increased the role of the medieval towns of Shirvan and Arran in world trade. The cities of Shirvan - Baku, Shamakhy and Derbent were located on the international trade routes. The main road ran through Mughan on the right bank of the Kura River to Tiflis and from there to the Black Sea and Byzantium [4, P. 84-385; 13, P. 204]. One of the medieval towns of Azerbaijan - Barda, was the largest trade center in the world on the Great Silk Road, and up to the 10th century was one of the largest centers of craft art in the Middle East and the Transcaucasian region [3, P. 136,138]. In the 14th-17th centuries, the role of the Azerbaijan towns located on international routes had increased even more. This was due to the development of the Volga-Caspian trade route, developed by Russian and English merchants [3, P. 404]. Archaeological artifacts confirm the extensive ties of the Azerbaijan cities - Shamakhy, Baku, Derbent, Ganja, Nakhchi-van, Ardabil, Tabriz, Maraga in world international transit trade, countries of the East and the West [3, P. 138-139]. World trade connected Azerbaijan with India and China, via the southern land arterial highroad through Central Asia to Iran, the southern
regions of Azerbaijan and along the northern road, along the coasts of the Caspian Sea, by the Derbent passage to the Khazar country and further [3, P. 138; 6, P. 120; 8, P. 162-163; 11, P. 355; 12, P. 71; 27, 19].
Until the end of the medieval era all the main routes of the caravan roads of Azerbaijan remained almost unchanged. The most common among others was the Barda-Barsanj-Shamakhy-Shirvan-Shab-ran-Derbent route connecting the central regions of Azerbaijan with the north [4, P 384; 13, P. 206]. Written sources do not contain information about the existence of a route running along the Caspian coast. It should be noted that archaeological investigations examined the Caspian coastal medieval sites - "Galacha" in Imishli district (near the village of Sarkhanly), "Girkh-Chiraq" (at the intersection of the Baku-Lankaran and Salyan-Shirvan highways), "Kursangy" (on the 100-th kilometer of Baku-Lankaran highway) and settlements near Garadagh. The sites are rich in glazed pottery of the 9th-13th centuries, which testifies to the existence of coastal caravan roads [4, P. 384; 6, P. 119-122]. Shamakhy, as the center of the Shirvanshah state, was connected by trade roads with most towns of Azerbaijan, especially with the city of Baku. Researchers suggest that the road from Shamakhy ran along the bank of Pirsaat River and branching through Sangachal towards Baku and further to the south of Azerbaijan [10, P. 108]. The remains of a caravanserai on the Pirsaat River on the Shamakhy-Salyan road have been preserved [12, P. 71; 4, P. 386].
Trade relations of the medieval town of Gabala with low-lying areas passed through the canyon along the Turyanchai River (Savalan pass) and Ghoychai (Alvan pass) or "Elchi-yolu" ("Messengers'road), which ran in the districts of Gabala and Agdash (Aresh) [3, P. 137; 6, P. 119-122].
Baku was connected to the main trade routes through local caravan roads running along the seashore and further to the lower reaches of the Kura River; the other road ran from Baku to the northwest through Gobustan to Shamakhy (the so-called
"Shirvan Yolu"), and the third road branching from the second to the northwest, towards the northern part of the peninsula and connected further to the main trade high road leading to Derbent [4, P 384; 6, P. 119-122; 10, P. 109; 14, P. 17].
In the 9th-13th centuries, Derbent was one of the most important trading centers in the Near East, as it was the largest port on the Caspian Sea [15, P. 108]. Archaeological artifacts - imported dishes, glass bowls, bottles, vessels for incense, monochrome and polychrome glass bracelets (twisted and smooth) and rings, decoration items made of paste, metal and bone, finger-rings, pendants and beads made of precious stones, faience and porcelain items found in the cultural layers of Derbent serve as excellent evidence of the city's trade relations [15, P. 112]. Ceramics and glass discovered from the cultural layers of the city, completely analogous to products from Oren-Qala, Shamakhy, Gabala, testify to the relations of Derbent with other cities and towns of Azerbaijan [15, P. 114].
Numismatic material contributes to the illumination of some aspects of socio-economic and political life, and characterizes the intensity of trade relations ofAzerbaijan [3, P. 141, 407]. The discovered coin treasures contain coins of the local mint and other countries. Gold and copper coins minted on behalf of the Byzantine emperors of the 12th-13th centuries were found in Baku [7, P. 113-115]. The discovered coin treasures contain samples not only oflocal coinage, but also of other countries that were part of the caliphate [1, P. 172-175; 14, P. 20].
Free movement, the emergence of cultural and economic zones contributed to the integration of intercultural relations.
The cultural ties of the medieval cities and towns of Azerbaijan in the world trade system determine the process of interaction between the development of urban culture and the legacy of medieval civilization, the heyday of which was directly connected with the intensification of contacts along the Great Silk Road [11, P. 354]. World culture includes many
local cultures, the development of the communicative processes, which took place in various forms and tendencies. Through international trade, there occurred a process of regulating contacts between
states; as a result, many nations got the opportunity of self-realization and mutual enrichment, developing their individual traditions in interaction with other cultures.
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