217
tee (OZAKOM) established by the Provisional Government in the aftermath of the
February Revolution in Russia, active participant of the Congress of the Caucasus
Muslims (April 15-20, 1917, Baku), the Commissar for Trade at the Trans-Caucasian
Commissariat, member of the Muslim fraction in the Trans-Caucasian Seim, intro-
duced to the Executive Committee at the Provisional National Council chaired by
M.Rasulzadeh, one of the members of the Azerbaijani National Council adopting
the Act on Independence of Azerbaijan on May 27, 1918, Azerbaijan’s diplomatic
envoy to Georgia (June 1918 to March 1919t, the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the
4th Cabinet of the Azerbaijani Government. In February-April 1920, the First Deputy
Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament. Upon the Soviet takeover, M.Jafarov was
employed as a legal adviser at various public offices. Passed away in Baku in 1938.
27Vekilov Mammadagha Moustafaagha oghlu (1862-1941), a recognized
public figure and educator, born in Salakhly village, Gazakh Uyezd, graduate of
the Gori Seminary (class 1883), a rural teacher in Kutaisi Uyezd, and them a faculty
member at his alma mater, the Gori Seminary. The following employments included
interpreter in the rank of the Councilor of the State at the Military Governorship
of Kutaisi, and in the rank of civil collegiate assessor at the Office of the Caucasian
Vice-Roy, at the Special Division of the Department of National and Military Affairs.
M.Vekilov was a member of the delegation of the Turko-Muslim peoples of the
Caucasus at the Armenian-Muslim negotiations initiated by the Caucasian Vice-Roy
Vorontsov on February 20, 1906. Since 1912, he was Board Manager of the Muslim
Charitable Association of the Caucasus, also involved in teching at various training
institutions throughout the whole period of WW1. In 1918-1920, M.Vekilov served
as the Chief of the Office of the Azerbaijani Parliament. In the early years of the So-
viet period M.Vekilov was the professor at a girls’ seminary. M.Vekilov passed away
in Baku in 1941.
28Error in year. Correct date 1921
29The Shollar Water Supply System, constructed following incentive and
with partial financial support of Hajji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, a highly recognized
Azerbaijani oil magnate and philanthropist. In 1899, Taghiyev invited a William Lind-
ley, a renowned engineer from Frankfurt on the Main, with extensive experience of
similar projects in Europe. After substantial survey, Lindley succeeded in discove-
ring numerous and abundant artesian wells I the village of Shollar, in the vicinity
of Guba. The reservoir discovered was sufficient for supplying Baku with potable
water. In 1904, the resolution on the construction of the water supply system was
passed with both the provincial authorities and the City Council involved, however
it was not after late 1909 when the Council of Ministers of Russian Empire issued
bonds with 5 per cent of interest for the total sum of 27 million rubles to fund the
construction of Baku’s water supply system. Upon the project’s approval, the first
stage of construction was launched. Significant contributions to the project were
provided by local oil tycoons following H.Z.Taghiyev’s incentive. Construction of the
175-kilometer-long Shollar waterline buried in the ground and built of clay pipes
was completed in late 1916. The commissioning ceremony took place in January
1917.
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