Ethno-linguistic Bases of the Pirtavan Exonym

Abstract

The study of names of holy places, tombs of saints and graveyards is one of the topical issues of onomastics in Azerbaijan. Number of such places related to ancient beliefs and faith in Azerbaijan is remarkably high. Number of pre-Islamic and Islamic monuments in history draws attention. Interestingly, history of holy places and centers accepted as Islamic actually goes back to ancient times. Several such places are situated in Neftchala district, one of which is the Pirtavan sanctuary belonging to the past millennia. Despite that the sanctuary was registered by the state for proper protection as a cultural monument a hundred years old, this history is actually related to the first date of reconstruction and repair works of the place. The modern Pirtavan monument is considered a shrine. It was reconstructed and repaired by material contribution of Heydar Almazov, a millionaire from Mardakan, who rent the fishery named “Bojiy Promysl” existing then in Neftchala district. Local population of the region possessed numerous religious stories related to Pirtavan and always showed reverence to it. Such stories usually were directly related to miraculous events occurred in the shrine or related to it. The name Pirtavan is, actually, a compound onomastic unit created as a result of the merge of the pir and tavan words. It is considered an exonym in onomastics of Azerbaijan.