Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims

two places, i.e. Kilvar and Khachmaz. Gregorian (Apostolic) Christians

by faith, most of the Guba Armenians were speaking Persian, hence in

a number of 18-19

century sources they were referred to as

‘the Ar-

menian Tats’, ‘Christian Tats’ or ‘Gregorian Tats’

. That being said, resi-

dents of this type of Tat-speaking villages used to identify themselves

as Armenians, and were also speaking Armenian. (18)

The same ethnic composition was featuring the town of Guba

with the indigenous Turkic residents (i.e. the Azerbaijanis) being the

dominant ethnic group. The Jews and the Tats were the second lar-

gest ethnic group, whereas other ethnicities (the Russians, the Arme-

nians, etc.) were neither large in number, not stable. Migration from

Dagestan and northern Iranian provinces (South Azerbaijan) had a

certain impact on Guba’s ethnic composition as well. (19)

Residents of Guba Khanate and later the Province of Guba and

the town itself have always enjoyed smooth good-neighborly rela-

tions, with no ethnic or confessional conflicts reported.

In the 1840’s, the

Russian Settlement

, also known as

Kryty Khutor

(Covered Farmstead)

was laid out in the north-western part of Guba,

populated by the Czarist military officers. Meanwhile the Russian re-

settlement policy launched immediately upon the area’s conquest

was accompanied by intense displacement of the native population.

The Royal Law of October 20, 1830 encouraged the migration of Rus-

sian peasants, mainly

the Raskolniki

(Old Believers) and sectarians. All

together, 19 Russian settlements were created in Guba Uyezd within

the time span of 1830-1917. Normally, Russian colonies in the area

were laid out on the lands originally owned by the locals with subse-

quent displacement of native residents by the newcomers. In some

other cases the settlements were formed at the expense of so-called

‘landed surplus’ (or extra lands) implying the lands owned by certain

Muslim communities. E.g., the Azerbaijani village of Khuch was popu-

lated by Russian newcomers and renamed into

Nicolayevka

. The same

scenario happened with Akhtala village alienated from local residents

to become

Novo-Mikhaylovka

. (20)

The Lezghin residents of Guba Uyezd were also subject to dis-

placement. For instance, residents of the Lezghin village of Kusnet

(nowadays Vladimirovka) were forced to vacate their original

aoul

with

rich grazing lands and fertile soil and to move into barren mountains

to establish a new aoul with the same name. Intense replacement of