***

Actions of the 3-thousand strong squad led by Amazasp through-

out the whole period of the violent assault on Guba clearly indicate that

the unit’s mission was not only punitive, i.e. pursuing the goal ‘to pe-

nalize’ thousands of innocent Guba residents with a view to avenging

several casualties among local Armenians resulting from a 3-day-long

battle, with no civilians involved. Neither was it because of “Turkish Ar-

menians killed by the Turks and Kurds”. Amazasp’s core mission set

forth by the so-called ‘Center headed by Shaumyan’ was mass extermi-

nation of the local Muslim population and its expulsion from the areas

of indigenous habitation. Another evidence of such an objective was

the behavior of Amazasp’s gangs on their way to Guba when the Arme-

nian militants were attacking Muslim settlements en route from Baku

to Guba and vice versa. A number of residential areas to the left and

the right of the railroad were set ablaze, the mosques and holy books

desecrated, the property plundered and all residents found slain. No

mercy was shown to either women, elderly ones or kids.

According to the administrative subdivision as of the early 1918,

the Uyezd (district) of Guba included the town of Guba and 5 Police

Precincts: Davachi, Gusar, Mushkur, Rustov and Fethibey. Each pre-

cinct in turn comprised several communities embracing 2-30 villages

each. The overall number of villages and winter pastures in the Uyezd

varied around 540, united in 55 communities. (102)

Within just two weeks since late April till mid May 1918, Ama-

zasp’s squad succeeded in devastating and looting 167 villages in

Guba Uyezd at the very minimum. In other residential places the Ar-

menian militants limited themselves to plundering movable property

only. Several villages were looted twice, both on the way from Baku to

Guba and Gusar, and vice versa. (103)

The overall damage inflicted by Amazasp’s bashings and rob-

beries was estimated at dozens of millions rubles. The overall number

of casualties exceeded a thousand of slain and injured local residents,

women, elderly ones and children included. A noteworthy detail in

this respect is that a number of local villagers warned by both Guba

residents and their neighbors fled in advance trying to escape an un-

avoidable death. According to testimonies by Hajji Seyyid Adbulkhalil

son of Hajji Seyyidali, a resident of Seyyidler village, Mushkurk Pre-

cinct, residents of the village, as well as other neighboring Muslim

Events of 1918 in Guba in the Context of Plans for Mass Extermination

of Azerbaijan’s Muslim Population