TRAILBLAZERS

It is no accident that International Press Day is celebrated when it is. It was precisely on that day, 22 July 1875, that Hasan bay Zardabi published the first issue of the newspaper  "Akinci", [The Ploughman], in Azeri. This first publication laid the foundation stone of Azerbaijan's national press history. Another newspaper the "Bakinskiy listok"[The "Baku Rag"] had been published here slightly earlier. But it was never to become Azerbaijan's top publication, because it never came out in Azeri owing to certain difficulties. A national press came into being in very difficult conditions, but these first two "press swallows" heralding the forthcoming summer of this genre fulfilled their main socio-historical mission.

The criticism levelled at him

In 1873 a graduate of Moscow University, the Baku Secondary Grammar School teacher Hasan bay Malikov (Zardabi) requested that the governor-general of Baku Province, D. S. Staroselskiy, should help him set up an Azeri-language newspaper. The governor looked favourably upon the idea of publishing a newspaper, volunteered to be its censor and even proposed the name Akinci [The Ploughman]. Hasan regarded the publication of the newspaper in his mother tongue as a means of educating the Azeri population. There was an enormous desire to publish the newspaper, but how could that really be done. "There was no money, no writers, no print-house and no type. There were hardly likely to be more that one or two hundred readers. Getting permission from the state authorities for the project was an absolute nightmare," he wrote on the eve of the newspaper's first edition.

In spite of all the difficulties, permission was obtained to publish the newspaper in 1875. The first issue of the Azeri newspaper came out on 22 July. Its name was quite appropriate, for the "Ekinchi" devoted a lot of space to life in the countryside, agriculture, cattle-breeding and so forth. The scientific and medical sections made the newspaper especially useful to readers. In short, this was exactly what the Muslim population needed.

Hasan bey had to work in extremely difficult conditions. In almost every issue he complained about the poor operation of the printing-house, the lack of the necessary editorial staff, type-setters and what was most important - funding. Type was ordered from Constantinople [now Istanbul] and he almost had to do all the type-setting himself. He does at least mention this in one issue of the newspapers. Owing to the shortage of type-face, words often had to be replaced by others for which there was type, thus affecting the stylistic quality.

In one of the issues of the"Kaspiy" ["Caspian"] newspaper in 1913, in an article devoted to the history of Azerbaijan's press, we read, "The townspeople hardly took any interest in it (the newspaper "Akinci" -author's note). In the second year of its publication more than two-thirds of its 600 subscribers were peasants, country people. By some strange coincidence, this newspaper published in Transcaucasia, was more widely read in towns outside the Caucasus. So, the newspaper "Akinci" had three subscribers in the town of Shusha [Susa], three in Shamakhi [Samaxi], three in Nukha, one in Yelizavetpol and one in ?Lyankyaran. This is really surprising. What is more, these two to three subscribers believed that they should have a say in the newspaper's content, directing comments at the editor and sometimes writing "hajv" [letters of complaint] (blatantly honest pamphlets where a spade was definitely called a spade) and even demanding that the editor should print these vile comments in the newspaper!"

It is noteworthy that Zardabi was not averse to printing criticism of himself, which was even insulting at times. A certain poet named Hadi from Shusha believed that Zardabi was not a true Muslin and wrote in one of the letters of complaint: "You deserve to be compared to Vartan or Gaspar, oh Hasan!" In one place that same author says, "But you haven't attained your goal, inhuman lout Hasan". Hasan bey himself did not make any comment on these outbursts.

The financial difficulties which plagued the "Akinci" from its early days soon led to its closure. The following note from the editor appeared in the 20th issue in 1877: "Owing to our failing health the last issues of our newspaper for this year will not be coming out on time and we do not know when they will be published." In total, 56 issues of the newspaper came out over the three years. But this did not prevent the "Akinci" from becoming the first mass-circulation Azeri-language newspaper.

The first weekly

The "Baku Rag" was published before the "Ekinchi". Until recently Azeri researchers into the history of the press had not had any opportunity to familiarise themselves with this newspaper which came out in 1871-1872, because no copies of it had survived in the national archives. However, the head of the political documents department of the Administrative Affairs Department of the Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Lala Haciyeva, managed to find a "Baku Rag" newspaper file in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, which was dispatched to Baku.

The "Baku Rag's" publisher and editor was a German language teacher at the Baku Secondary Grammar School named Christian Zink. We know very little about him. The fact that he was a Lutheran by religion and taught German, as well as his Christian and surnames suggest that he was of German extraction. He is known to have been listed as a merchant in Moscow, but was taken off this register when he left for Baku. He was offered the position of teacher at the Baku Secondary Grammar School by the administrator of the Baku educational district, which was responsible for this institution. Among the documents that Zink presented to the administrator there was a copy of a reference from Moscow University and a certificate awarding him the title of junior teacher. A copy of the document dated 9 September 1868 has been preserved in the State Historical Archive of the Azerbaijan Republic. We learn from it that C. Zink was sent to Baku from St. Petersburg to be employed as a teacher at the Baku Secondary Grammar School. He arrived in Baku on 27 September. His salary was 700 roubles per year. Subsequently, the administrator of the Caucasian educational district allowed  C. Zink to supplement his teaching work with "acting as aide to (deputy - author's note) to the tutor at the grammar school's boarding school".

A year after C. Zink arrived at the Baku Secondary Grammar School, Hasan bay Malikov (Zardabi) was also appointed a teacher at that educational establishment. Unfortunately, no sources have survived to throw light on the relationship between Zink and Zardabi, except a letter which Zink sent Zardabi from Moscow in 1878. N. Akhundov quotes an excerpt from it in the book "The Language of Documents" (1980, in Azeri). This is what Zink wrote: "I have been carefully monitoring your recent activities, welcome your heroic struggle, was very upset when I learned that you had retreated; nevertheless for me you remain a worthy hero. You and I have managed to do something as far as our power would let us, but we still holding onto our arms. Surely, we won't stop here?… No, dear Melnikov."

By reading between the lines we can however see that Melnikov and Zink had similar thoughts on many issues and felt a mutual respect for one another. Possibly, hoping for Zardabi's support, when Zink asked his permission to publish the "Baku Rag" newspaper, he noted that some of the articles would be printed in Tatar (Azeri - author's note). His application was submitted to the Baku Governor-General Kolyubyakin on 25 February 1870. Two days later Kolyubyakin dispatched the documents received to the headmaster of the Baku Secondary Grammar School, requesting him to comment on C. Zink's intentions. The headmaster's comments were positive; on their basis the governor-general petitioned the head of the Main Directorate of the Caucasus Governor-General for permission to publish the "Baku Rag" newspaper. At the same time, he refused Zink "financial assistance to help with the publication of the newspaper" and warned that there would be no payment for official announcements printed in the future newspaper.

Zink did not have to wait long for a reply to his application from the administration of the Caucasus district. On 3 December 1870 the head of the Governor-General's Main Directorate reported to the administrator of the educational district that he had granted permission for the publication of the "Baku Rag" weekly. Kolyubyakin was also informed of this decision. The governor-general not only appointed censors of the newspaper from among those subordinated to him, but also the translator from the Russian to Azeri from his local officials. Kitayev, the head clerk in the governor-general's office was appointed censor. Zink was instructed to send copies of the newspaper which was "about to go to press" to the Caucasus censorship committee and then hand over three copies of the "Baku Rag" to the Baku and Tiflis [Tbilisi, Georgia] public libraries.

Armenian printing-house machinations

The first issue of the "Baku Rag" came out on 6 March 1871. It was printed in the print shop of the Armenian Philanthropic Society. However, once they started working together, the newspaper's editor and the managers of the printing house did not get on. The first issue carried the following notice  "From the editorial office": "In spite of the agreement we have concluded in good time with the Philanthropic Society's print shop, the latter still does not have the means to fulfil the obligations it has taken upon itself; as far as the Tatar section of our newspaper is concerned, the above-mentioned print shop has requested a postponement of its publication until this coming April; consequently we are asking our subscribers to  tolerate the printing shortcomings in our publication for a while. We have grounds for hoping that the printing-house will take measures to vindicate itself and us in the eyes of the public."

But nothing came of these expectations. In the two years that the "Baku Rag" existed, no articles in Azeri ever appeared in it. However, in the 20th issue on 13 March 1872 announcements about the expected arrival of Shaykh al-Islam of the Caucasus District and an article about Shiite and Sunni interpretations of Islam did appear in the newspaper in Iranian translation.

 In July 1871 the printing house of the Armenian Philanthropic Society completely refused to print the newspaper. The newspaper was not published again for six months. This is how its editors explained the cessation of publication: "The editors feel obliged to explain to their subscribers the reason why publication of the "Baku Rag" has been suspended for almost six months now. The "Rag" was being printed at the print shop of the Armenian Philanthropic Society; readers are well aware of the major printing shortcomings in the newspaper and the slipshod manner in which it was produced, to such an extent that the editors were compelled to sue them for breach of contract; as a result, the printing house completely refused to publish the "Rag" and the editors were left with no other choice but to apply to the court to release them from their obligations in order to transfer the printing of the "Rag" to another printing house. On 23 of December last (1871 - author's note) the Baku district court decided in favour of the editor, as well as releasing him from his contract. So, this, in a nutshell, is the story of how the "Baku Rag" stopped coming out for six months.

Impartiality, boldness, honesty

From 1872 the "Baku Rag" began to be printed at the Minasov printing-house. A total of 40 copies of the newspaper appeared in the two years of its existence, 17 of them in 1871 and 23 in 1872. In reality the newspaper was only coming out for 10 months. Even in that short period, however, the "Baku Rag" was able to make itself seen as an impartial, bold and honest printed organ, dealing reliably with the vital problems facing the town and its citizens.

For example, the "Baku Rag" actively campaigned for a school to be opened in Baku to train                      ship's captains. In informing readers about a school of this type in Rybinsk [on the Volga river], the author of the notices writes: "If in Rybinsk, which is by the river, they envisage the need for masters in river navigation for commercial runs, then surely it is indisputable that skippers need to be trained for sailing on the stormy Caspian Sea!" The author not only presents arguments why a school of navigation should be set up in Baku, but also suggests ways of realising this idea.

The newspaper did not shun criticism of the bodies of local administration. So, in issue no.12 of 18 March the paper asked in plain terms: "Why have the police set statutory market prices without the involvement of the city's deputies, especially at such an alarming time like the present when rumours of endless inflation are rife throughout the city. Why don't the police also make public the auctions that they hold? A few days ago the possessions of the deceased consul Pavlov were auctioned off, and many people only learned of the sale by accident afterwards." The newspaper raised such topical matters in which there was clearly a hint of corruption, copy after copy. The paper was particularly indignant about the position taken by the board of the Baku Charity Society, which kept its activities quiet.

 Besides this the "Baku Rag" dealt with big informative items of news. For example, in issue No.4 in 1871 it reported on the session of the Council of Ministers, attended by the Emperor, at which the possibility of women working in the civil service was discussed. The newspaper listed the structures in which women could be employed. On another page in the same issue we see an article praising the Derbent girls school at which 15 Muslim girls and five Russian girls were studying at that time. In publishing these articles, the "Baku Rag" is advising local society, trying to steer it towards development. And there are quite a few examples like this.

 At the same time, the paper did not just keep to local news items and problems. Periodically notices appeared in it on major events taking place in different Russian cities and provinces. The "Baku Rag" also focussed on events taking place beyond the borders of the empire. In particular, articles were systematically published on the revolution in France, Austria's foreign policy and the situation in Persia [Iran].

The last, 40th issue of the newspaper came out on 3 June 1872. It did not contain even the slightest hint of the difficulties that might lead to its demise. Nevertheless, publication of the "Baku Rag" ceased.