Shamakhi massacre

Shamakhi massacre
Part of March Days
Ruins of Imamli Street. House of Karbalayi Mammad Ali Aliyev
Date 1918 March – 1918 April Location Shamakhi Uyezd, Baku Governorate Result Victory of Baku Soviet and ARF Death of over 7,000 Azerbaijani and Jewish civilians

The Shamakhi massacre (Azerbaijani: Şamaxı soyqırımı) was a massacre which was committed against Azerbaijanis by Armenians in Shamakhi Uyezd from March–April 1918.

March 31 is marked as the Day of the Genocide of the Azerbaijanis by Order of the Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev dated March 26, 1998.

Before the massacre

B. Baykov, a member of the Cadet Party, who lived in Baku and later emigrated to Germany, wrote in his memoirs about the main causes of the March 1918 massacre: "Baku supplied all the oil of Russian Empire. Most of the oil was transported to Russian cities via the Volga River. As the ice melted on the Volga, merchant ships began operating in mid-March. The immediate task of the Bolsheviks was to occupy Baku as soon as possible."

With the instruction of Stepan Shaumian, Stepan Lalayev secretly distributed weapons to Armenians living in Shamakhi in late 1917 and early 1918 in preparation for the planned genocide against the local population. During this period, 7,000 Armenian soldiers from various fronts were brought to Baku and included in the military forces of Baku Soviet. According to the document prepared by Commission of Inquiry, 15 weapons were sent to Shamakhi by Baku Soviet in January, and 60 weapons and 2,000 Armenian soldiers were sent to Shamakhi in mid-March.

Massacre

Ruins of houses located at the corner of Goshabulag and Gurjubazar streets

The exact date of the Shamakhi massacre is unknown. Some books and articles state that the massacre took place on March 18, 1918, some in April 1918, and some on April 3-16. Studies confirm that the Shamakhi massacre took place in several stages at short intervals, before the massacres in Baku and Guba:

• I stage — early March – 27 March 1918

• II stage — 30 March – 9 April 2018

• II stage — 18 April – 1 August 2018

On March 18, 1918, at 6 o'clock in the morning, the Armenians besieged Shamakhi and fired on the city with 10 cannons, hundreds of machine guns and other weapons. After that, fires broke out in several neighborhoods of the city, and the population was forced to surrender. Armenians entering Shamakhi plundered the city again. The crimes were committed with special cruelty. The victims' arms, legs, noses, ears were cut off, their eyes were gouged out, their bellies were torn, burned and tortured to death.

Interior of Haji Qasim Mosque

Fearing that Azerbaijani armed groups would come to Shamakhi from Ganja, Armenians and Molokans retreated to Gozluchay village of Shamakhi Uyezd. Azerbaijani armed groups are beginning to persecute them. However, it becomes clear to them that the forces of Armenians and Malakans are greater than theirs. Therefore, four days later, Azerbaijani armed groups were forced to leave the city. Most of the Muslim population of Shamakhi leaved the city with armed groups from Ganja. Many people, especially the poor, the sick, the elderly, and children, remain in the city. A few days after the armed groups from Ganja left Shamakhi, Armenian and Malakan groups returned and captured Shamakhi again. This time the looting of the city and the violence to the population is carried out with greater cruelty than before. The remaining Azerbaijani population in the city, including children, women and the elderly, was completely murdered. All the property of Azerbaijanis in the city was looted and taken to Armenian and Malakan villages. All the mosques in the city were burned with their holy places. 86 of 120 villages were subjected to massacre. Due to the commission's suspension, it was not possible to collect information on other 33 villages affected by the massacre.

"Piran-Shirvan" neighborhoods were completely looted and burned. All Muslim neighborhoods of Shamakhi were set on fire, 13 neighborhood mosques and the famous Juma Mosque were set on fire.

There are various reports on the number of people killed during Shamakhi massacre. Some estimates put the death toll at 7,000, some at 8,000, some at 8,000-12,000, and some at 40,000. In 1920, immigrant literature put the death toll at 12,000 in one source and 17,000 in another.

According to experts' figures in the archives, 8,027 Azerbaijanis were killed in 53 villages of Shamakhi district, including 4,190 men, 2,560 women and 1,277 children. According to estimates, the total material damage to these villages was 339.5 million manat with the prices of that period. Another source said that 7,000 people, 1,653 women and 965 children were killed in 72 villages of Shamakhi.

Report of Alakbar bey Khasmammadov

Shop ruins in Upper Square in Shikhminas

Alakbar bey Khasmammadov, a member of Ganja Muslim Charity Society, wrote in a telegram sent to the chairman of Transcaucasian Seym on March 28, 1918: "On March 18, the Bolsheviks sent 2,000 well-armed troops with artillery and machine guns from Baku to Shamakhi Uyezd. The group destroyed more than 15 Muslim villages along the way and Shamakhi city. Thousands of Muslims, including women and children, were killed. The tragedy cannot be described. Insults and violence are exceeded.

A. Khasmammadov's report stated that more than a thousand Azerbaijanis were killed during the first and second Armenian attacks on Shamakhi.

Aftermath

In the document sent to London by British Brigadier General R. Gorton on December 8, 1918, states that 20,000, in the book of R. Mustafazadeh, 20,000, in the book of A. Balayev, 30,000, in the documents of Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, and in the book published by Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan states that more than 50,000 Muslims were subjected to massacre in 1918.

According to some sources, Shamakhi residents killed by Armenians in 1918 were buried in Kalakhana and Suleyman valleys.

Modern research proves that in the massacres of 1918, Armenians committed crimes not only against Azerbaijanis, but also against Jews, Germans and other national minorities. During this period, Armenians killed about 3,000 Jews. Isakov Pisakh Davidovich, a representative of Guba District Executive Power for Gyrmyzy Gasaba, submitted to the prosecutor's office a list of 104 mountain Jews killed by Armenians in 1918 and 18 Jews living in Gyrmyzy Gasaba. The Jews who were killed at that time were thrown into the valley of Shimi near the village of Digah, Quba.

Literature

• Zulfugarly, M. (2011). Şamaxı soyqırımı 1918. Baku. p. 78. Search this book on

See also

• March Days
• Guba mass grave

This article "Shamakhi massacre" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Shamakhi massacre. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Action of 4 April 1918
• Agdaban massacre
• Stepanakert pogrom
• Independence of Azerbaijan
• Ballıqaya massacre
• Aghdaban massacre
• Bashlibel massacre

---