GUBA

GUBA This is a district in Azerbaijan located in the north-east of the Upper Caucasus mountains. The district’s history begins from early middle ages and there are mentioning it in old Albanian and Arabic sources, as well as in the […]

GUBA

This is a district in Azerbaijan located in the north-east of the Upper Caucasus mountains. The district’s history begins from early middle ages and there are mentioning it in old Albanian and Arabic sources, as well as in the books of European geographers. Thus, the first mosque that Prophet Mohammad built around Mecca,which one was called Guba. The city khanate was one of the khanates of Azerbaijan. Khanate created in the mid 18th century. The khanate was located in the north-west of Azerbaijan. Guba’s khan Huseynali made the city his capital and moved his headquarters to here. Fatali khan, the most famous of the leaders of Guba khanate, attempted to unite the disorganized khanates of Azerbaijan under his rule. He was able to bring the north-eastern Azerbaijan, from Derbend to Lenkoran, under his rule.

During that period, Jews invited to settle on the left side of the river Gudyalchay in this city. This residential area which was previously called Jews Sloboda has been called since 1926 Red Settlement. Dagestan khanates continuously threatened Guba khanate from the north. Once Russia began to pursue its geo-political interest in the Caucasus and South Caucasus and decided to establish its rule here permanently, it became hard for Guba khanate to protect its borders and it united with the Russian empire in the early 19th century (1813).

During the rule of Huseynali khan’s son Fatali khan (1758-1789) Guba khanate strengthened its position. In 1806 Guba khanate united with Russia and became a province. On 8 August 1930 Guba became one of the administrative districts of Azerbaijan. The district is part of Guba-Khachmaz economic zone. It has a population of 155.624 (01 January 2011). The total area of the district is 2580 km². There are 386 refugee families – 1672 people and 72 IDP families – 271 people are living in the district as a result of the aggressive policy of Armenian occupiers (01 March 2011). The district shares borders with Khachmaz and Gusar districts.