The northwestern “wing” of Azerbaijan, known as Zagatala, is sparsely populated yet rich in the diversity of its peoples and ethnicities. Avar, Lezgian, Tsakhur, Udi, Russian, Tatar, Ingiloy, and numerous smaller tribes coexist peacefully alongside Azerbaijanis, having done so for centuries. Many of these groups trace their lineage back to the ancient Albanian tribes and categorically refuse to acknowledge any kinship with neighboring communities. For instance, the residents of the village of Ilisu and those from the village of Gum not only deny any similarities in their origins but also rarely interact, despite being only a few kilometers apart, separated by a small mountain ridge. Each village, in addition to the state language, boasts its own dialect, often of non-Turkic origin.
Historically, the territory that is now the Zagatala region was part of Caucasian Albania. Following the dissolution of this state, it came under Georgian rule. The local Albanian population was converted to Georgian Orthodoxy by the Kakhetian queen, Danara. In the early 11th century, Kakhetian King Kvirike annexed Eret’i to Kakheti. In the 15th century, Georgian King Alexander I the Great granted Kakheti to his younger son, David.
During the 15th century, the eastern outskirts of Kakheti, which would later become Zagatala, began to see an influx of settlers from Dagestan—specifically, Avars. This migration was further exacerbated in the early 17th century due to the devastation of Kakheti by Shah Abbas, which resulted in the massacre and capture of local inhabitants, alongside the settlement of Turks (Azerbaijanis) in the area. The remnants of the former Georgian population, under pressure from the Avars and Tsakhurs, converted to Islam and began to identify as Ingiloy (new converts). By the early 18th century, the Avars and Tsakhurs had firmly established themselves in the region, forming several free societies (alliances) known as the Jaro-Belokan Free Societies.
Following Georgia’s annexation by Russia, there arose a need to curb the autonomy of the Jar societies and to put an end to their raids. In 1803, General Gulyakov took on this responsibility. After a new wave of discontent in 1830, the lands of the Jar societies were fully incorporated into Georgia, forming the Jaro-Belokan region, which later became the Jaro-Belokan district. In 1844, the Ilisu Sultanate was included within this administrative unit. In the same year, after suppressing uprisings among the local population, a fortress named “New Zakatala” was established, named after the village of Zakatala. By 1851, the town of Zakatala became the fortress’s outpost.
On April 5, 1860, Tsar Alexander II signed the “Regulations on the Administration of the Dagestan Region and Zakatala District,” transforming the Jaro-Belokan military district into Zakatala District, headed by a district chief who temporarily reported to the chief of Upper Dagestan.
On May 26, 1918, following the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, the Georgian Democratic Republic was established. Zakatala District became part of the Georgian Republic; however, Azerbaijan contested this claim, arguing that the Azerbaijani people had inhabited the territory since the 17th century. According to the Moscow Treaty of May 7, 1920, concluded between Georgia and the RSFSR, one part of Georgia’s southern state border extended to the Zakatala District.
In 1921, an armed conflict erupted involving Georgian Bolsheviks and troops from the 11th and 9th Kuban Armies of the RSFSR on one side, and the armed forces of the Georgian Democratic Republic on the other, culminating in the establishment of Soviet power in Georgia. In early March 1922, the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided to withdraw four districts from Georgia’s former Zakatala District and incorporate them into Azerbaijan. The Avars and Tsakhurs played a significant role in this decision: representatives of the RSFSR offered a decisive choice to Dagestani ethnic representatives. Local elders requested to join Dagestan, but the commission, relying on historical experiences of past uprisings, rejected this option. Consequently, the elders opted for Azerbaijan, justifying their choice by stating that it was better to be with Muslims than with Christians.
The word “Zagatala” has several proposed origins. One theory suggests that “Zagatala” is a modified form of “Sakatala,” derived from the name of the Sak plain. In the 7th century BC, the Sak tribes migrated to the Near East and settled in the territory of Albania, from the right bank of the Kura River to the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. The Zagatala region was one of the integral parts of ancient Caucasian Albania, located in the west.
A 19th-century manuscript offers another interpretation of the name Zagatala: “As for the origin of the name Zagatala, it is said that the first man to revive the Zagatala land was a man named Zaka. He created a glade (tala), which subsequently became known as ‘Zaka’s glade’—Zagatala.” It is worth noting that the name Zaki, of Arabic origin, was prevalent among the Avars of the village of Jar. In Arabic, it translates to “pure” or “righteous”.