Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
16
two places, i.e. Kilvar and Khachmaz. Gregorian (Apostolic) Christians
by faith, most of the Guba Armenians were speaking Persian, hence in
a number of 18-19
th
century sources they were referred to as
‘the Ar-
menian Tats’, ‘Christian Tats’ or ‘Gregorian Tats’
. That being said, resi-
dents of this type of Tat-speaking villages used to identify themselves
as Armenians, and were also speaking Armenian. (18)
The same ethnic composition was featuring the town of Guba
with the indigenous Turkic residents (i.e. the Azerbaijanis) being the
dominant ethnic group. The Jews and the Tats were the second lar-
gest ethnic group, whereas other ethnicities (the Russians, the Arme-
nians, etc.) were neither large in number, not stable. Migration from
Dagestan and northern Iranian provinces (South Azerbaijan) had a
certain impact on Guba’s ethnic composition as well. (19)
Residents of Guba Khanate and later the Province of Guba and
the town itself have always enjoyed smooth good-neighborly rela-
tions, with no ethnic or confessional conflicts reported.
In the 1840’s, the
Russian Settlement
, also known as
Kryty Khutor
(Covered Farmstead)
was laid out in the north-western part of Guba,
populated by the Czarist military officers. Meanwhile the Russian re-
settlement policy launched immediately upon the area’s conquest
was accompanied by intense displacement of the native population.
The Royal Law of October 20, 1830 encouraged the migration of Rus-
sian peasants, mainly
the Raskolniki
(Old Believers) and sectarians. All
together, 19 Russian settlements were created in Guba Uyezd within
the time span of 1830-1917. Normally, Russian colonies in the area
were laid out on the lands originally owned by the locals with subse-
quent displacement of native residents by the newcomers. In some
other cases the settlements were formed at the expense of so-called
‘landed surplus’ (or extra lands) implying the lands owned by certain
Muslim communities. E.g., the Azerbaijani village of Khuch was popu-
lated by Russian newcomers and renamed into
Nicolayevka
. The same
scenario happened with Akhtala village alienated from local residents
to become
Novo-Mikhaylovka
. (20)
The Lezghin residents of Guba Uyezd were also subject to dis-
placement. For instance, residents of the Lezghin village of Kusnet
(nowadays Vladimirovka) were forced to vacate their original
aoul
with
rich grazing lands and fertile soil and to move into barren mountains
to establish a new aoul with the same name. Intense replacement of