ENLIGHTENER OF MODERN TIMES

In the early 19th century, nobody would call Azerbaijan and the Caucasus Europe. The era of the East that gave birth to Tusi, Nasimi and other enlighteners went into oblivion, and the West, which experienced the Renaissance and basics of humanism, was too far. During this period, the country especially needed enlighteners. And one of the first turned out to be an outstanding politician and scholar Abbas Qulu Aga Bakixanov.

Background 

He grew up in a cosmopolitan multicultural family. Abbas Qulu's father was Baku Khan Mirza Muhammad Khan II, and his mother was Georgian Sofia Xanum Bahram bay qizi, who had converted to Islam. The family was fluent in several languages.

The Bakixanovs hailed from the famous Turkic-Oguz Qajar clan. His uncle, grandfather and great grandfather were rulers of Baku. They often moved. They lived in Quba, Tiflis and visited Kazan and Astrakhan. He spent his childhood in Baku and its villages - Mastaga, Amircan, Balaxani, Ramana and other villages belonging to his family. And for this reason, in interviews and documents Bakixanov proudly called himself "Bakuvian". He truly loved Baku, knew its environs and studied its history.

From his childhood, he stood out for his love of reading, which was a rarity in those days. His friend and Russian orientalist Ivan Berezin recalled that in Bakixanov's house in Icarisahar there was part of his rich library of manuscripts in Azerbaijani, Persian and Arabic. Most of these books passed from generation to generation. Young Abbas Qulu began to replenish his library with books in Russian and French. The Bakixanov family also had such libraries in Tiflis and Quba.

War, politics, studies 

As a representative of a noble family, Bakixanov easily found himself in military service, where he made a career not only as a serviceman, but also as a diplomat. His career began in late 1819, when the young Abbas Qulu found himself in Tiflis as a translator from oriental languages at the Office of the Chief Commander of Georgia. From next year, he began to participate in military expeditions, including in the regiment of Mustafa Khan of Shirvan. In 1823 he took part in the inventory of the Karabakh province and in the commission to determine the border with Persia. For his excellent service and heroism in battle, he was soon promoted to staff-captain and awarded the Order of St. Anne in the 3rd degree with a bow for the capture of Sardar Abad and Erivan, according to official documents.

At the age of 34 Abbas Qulu excelled in diplomacy during negotiations with Persia, and was promoted to captain, and a year later - to major for his heroism in battle (during the capture of Fort Akhaltsikhe). And at 40 Bakixanov became a lieutenant colonel and soon a colonel. For that period, such a career in the tsarist army, especially for a foreigner, was considered very rapid.

It may seem that such a rise was due to high loyalty or, say, soft character. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses observed the strict and rather capricious character of Bakixanov, who always remembered who he was and where he came from. The following case from his biography is eloquent. In St. Petersburg, Emperor Nicholas I met with officers who distinguished themselves in combat and noticed that one of them was not inclined to drink alcohol although there was plenty of good wine and expensive champagne around. Surprised at it and trying to embarrass Bakixanov, the Empress assumed that she would be the first to offer him a drink. At the reception, Alexandra approached him with a glass of wine on a gold tray. Stunned by this unexpected honour, Bakixanov knelt, raised his glass, turned to Emperor Nicholas and said: "My Lord offers me a drink, my God told me not to drink, whom must I obey?" Being a religious man, the emperor said, "Your God, of course." Bakixanov put the glass back on the tray and the embarrassed empress walked away.

Throughout this period Bakixanov lived in Tiflis, and these years became his most fruitful in terms of self-education.

Tbilisi was a cultural centre and a kind of crossroads at that time. Many cultural figures visited this city. Abbas Qulu mastered Russian and French here and read a lot. Being a famous officer and diplomat, he became friends with Griboyedov and Bestuzhev. He communicated a lot with the Georgian writers Orbeliani, Chavchavadze and Baratashvili. He was friends with Russian poet Polonskiy and philanthropist Lado-Zablotskiy.

Bakixanov often visited Moscow, St. Petersburg, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and in Warsaw he even lived for a little more than six months. It was there that he met the sister of Pushkin - Olga Pavlishcheva. Bringing a letter from her to her family in St. Petersburg, he met the great poet himself. It was 1834.

Poetry, prose, enlightenment 

Returning from Warsaw and missing his native land, Abbas Qulu moved from Tbilisi to Quba. There he first organized a literary club called Gulistan (Flower Garden). Poets and poetry lovers grouped together around him.

It was here that he completed some of his literary works, for which he did not have enough time during his active military career and diplomacy. One of them is a largely autobiographical story and is called "Kitabi Asgariyya", in which prose was interspersed with lyrical poetic fragments. This is a story about mutual love between a boy and a girl who are stalked by a fanatical environment full of prejudices.

He also wrote such scientific and journalistic works as "Tahzib ul-ahlag" ("Improvement of morals"), "Asrar ul-melekut" ("Mysteries of Heaven"), "Qanuni Qudsi", "Gulistan Iram", as well as several didactic stories in verse.

"Unfortunately some of his works have not reached our time," historian Tahir Ismayilov says in an interview with R+. "For example, 'Kitabi Asgariyya' was considered lost for a long time and was found only in 1946. Moreover, because of frequent relocations his early works - translations of Russian and European authors - were lost."

According to the historian, an invaluable contribution to national culture was his scientific work "Gulistan Iram" dedicated to the history of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. "It is thanks to this work that Bakixanov is rightfully considered the founder of Azerbaijani scientific historiography," Ismayilov said. "At the time of publication, his work aroused a keen interest among foreign scientists, historians and ethnographers."

The main subject in the writings of Bakixanov was education, freedom of thought and tolerance. Using the latest scientific data of the time, he talked about astronomy, geography and social and ethical issues. He also wrote parables, in which he called for hard work and honesty and flayed careerism, cruelty and tyranny.

"It was an energetic man, who worked a lot on himself and was interested in the world around him," says the historian. "Bakixanov always appreciated knowledge and spent decades to share it with the people."

He willingly lent books, which were considered a great luxury in those days. Shortly before his death, he gave a rather big personal library to his literary club in Quba. His friend Berezin brought 253 books belonging to the Baku library of Bakixanov to Kazan University.

His world outlook and ideas were imbued with the culture of the East and European ideas, the main ones of which were natural sciences, social progress, modern art and literature. And therefore, Bakixanov can rightly be called the very first Azerbaijani enlightener of modern times, whose 220th jubilee Azerbaijan celebrates this year.