The Mosques of the Shirvan Region in the Sphere of Spiritual Values of the Azerbaijani People

Abstract

The Shirvan region has included the local aspects and main criteria of our national and moral values. The important components of our spiritual culture that have come down to our time—the unity of ethno-cultural aspects—have found their place in the Shirvan region to a significant extent. As in the entire Near and Middle East, Islam played an important role in social and political life in Azerbaijan and the Shirvan region as well. The ancient, historic mosques in Shirvan are among our historical monuments that enrich the Islamic cultural heritage. In Shirvan architecture, a new image of a mosque began to take shape in the middle of the 7th century. In connection with the arrival of Islam, the first mosques were built on the territory of Azerbaijan; among them, the Shamakhi Juma mosque can be cited as an example. Juma Mosque, with its large size and magnificent architecture, demonstrates how Shamakhi was a prestigious district center at that time.
According to information, the Arabs who came to Azerbaijan in the 7th century built the first mosque in the Caucasus in 733 in Darband, and the second in 743 in Shamakhi. The Juma Mosque, which has endured natural disasters and destructive wars for centuries, suffered two more terrible blows in the last hundred years: the fire caused by Armenian oilmen, and the fact that it was made useless and neglected during the years of Soviet rule, as if to intimidate the people. The Imamzade mosque complex on Imamli Street, near the famous Friday Mosque in the center of the city, is considered one of the oldest monuments of Shamakhi. Mosques of the 19th - early 20th centuries in Ismayilli district (Aşıgbayram, Diyalli, Mican, Yeniyol, Topchu, Taglabiyan villages) are considered classic examples of Muslim Eastern art due to their architectural style.
The 19th-century tomb in Zeyva village, the 19th-century "Yukhari Eragit" and "Ashaghi Eragit" mosques in Eragit village are also old Muslim monuments. Basqal Mosque has interesting details from an ancient and structural point of view. The construction of the Haji Muhammad Aga Mosque in Agdash city began in 1892 and was completed in the summer of 1893. The construction of the mosque was carried out by the architect Mir Muhammad Mir Nadi Oglu. Jamil Aleksandrovich-Nasifi, an employee of the Society for Learning and Researching Azerbaijan, reported in 1926 that there is a great mosque in Agsu, the same age as the Shamakhi Juma Mosque and completely similar to it. Nasifi's notes also provide information about the Shikhmazid tomb. According to the elderly residents of the region, the Shikhmezid mosque and tomb were destroyed in the framework of the "cultural revolution" measures implemented by the Soviet regime in the 30s of the last century. It is the Upper Mosque building in the city of Goychay, distinguished by its history and high architectural craftsmanship. The mosque was built and completed in 1906 based on the project of the first Azerbaijani architect with a higher education, Zivar Bey Ahmadbeyov. The construction of this mosque started in 1902. Egg whites and yolks were used to add to the mud in the construction of the mosque. For the love of 124 thousand prophets, 124 thousand baked bricks were made for this mosque. Famous clerics of the time, such as Haji Akhund and Mir Fazil Agha, were the first scholars of this mosque.