15
replaced the Albanians under the Sassanid rule subsequently split-
ting into three congregations, i.e. the Muslims, the Judaists and Gre-
gorians. (14) Tat-populated villages with traditional Tatish names like
Ghendov, Afruja, Rustov, Zuhur etc., were located side by side with
the Turkic (i.e. Azerbaijani) ones. Traditionally Shiite Muslims by faith,
with tiny Sunni minority, the Tats were speaking their native Tatish
(Tat) language among themselves referring to the Turkic language to
communicate with their neighbors. (15)
The Lezghins counted for a significant part of Guba’s popula-
tion. One of the oldest ethnic groups in the area, they dominantly
resided in the north-eastern part of Guba Province sharing border
with Dagestan and the right bank of the Samur River. Incorporation
of South Dagestan into the State of Shirvanshah back in the Middle
Ages, as well as exposure to the latter one’s strong influence promo-
ted periodic migration of the Lezghins from Dagestan to the adjacent
areas (the Khanate of Guba among them), with the new settlements
named after their previous residential places. E.g. the Lezghin-popu-
lated villages of Guba Province like Zeykhur, Muruq, Murugoba, Leg-
her, Gedezeykhur, Yeni Zeykhur, etc, were founded by the residents
originating from villages with the same names in Dagestan. (16) The
Lezghins were Sunni Muslims speaking their native Lezghin language,
also fluent in Turkic.
Besides the Lezghins, the Province of Guba was home to a num-
ber of small ethnic communities of the Caucasian origin comprising
the Shahdagh linguistic sub-group of the Lezghin language, such as
the Khinalugs, the Kryzes, the Budugs, etc.
The pure Jewish population of Guba was a sub-ethnic group
of the East Caucasian Jewry, also known as the Mountain (Highland)
Jews. The area of their compact residence was knownas Jewish Settle-
ment. The way the Mountain Jews identified themselves was ‘Yeudi’
(the Jews) or Juhur (the Persian name for the Judaists). The adjective
‘Mounaineous’ (Highlanders) was added in the 19th century as this was
the common name applied by the Russian officials to all Caucasian
peoples. By their language and other attributes, the local Jews be-
longed to the to the Persian-speaking Jewish Group. (17)
As far as the Armenian population of Guba Province is con-
cerned, it migrated to the area in the late 18 th century, specifically
during the last years of Fatali-Khan’s reign, and was concentrated in
Events of 1918 in Guba in the Context of Plans for Mass Extermination
of Azerbaijan’s Muslim Population