FOR OUR TOMORROW

"I liked Baku very much. There is a magnificent and legendary ancient tower on the seashore. The locals believe that a beautiful queen once jumped from it to the sea. Today the tower is standing on a patch of land because the water has retreated. Baku also hosts a beautiful bazaar next to a small mosque. You can feel oriental flavour everywhere. But I think the most precious piece of Baku is the Khan's palace with its tattered ancient entrance arch. Alas, it suffers from unduly supervision and plunder. I must admit that I stole one of the tiles too but it is in the Radishchev Museum, so at least it serves there for good. " (A. P. Bogolyubov, "Notes of a sailor-artist", 1861-62)

In fact, Alexey Petrovich’s frank confession justifies him as the tiles he had stolen from the entrance to the Khan’s palace has been on display at the Saratov Museum since the end of the 19^th century, and visitors could admire the beauty produced by our masters. His Notes were published in Russia several times including in the Soviet years in the 1996 special edition of the Volga magazine. But not all who committed robbery at the Shah palace repented sincerely, indicating the location of the historical and architectural heritage of the Shirvanshahs... Even the employees of the historical and architectural reserve Icherisheher cannot guess the number of artefacts of the Shirvanshas legacy are scattered around the world today.

At the initiative and with the support of the administration of the Icherisheher State History and Architecture Reserve, the Baku Congress Centre held the International Scientific Conference on the State of Shirvanshahs attended by 150 people from 30 countries. The conference "Journey from modern Azerbaijan to the historical State of the Shirvanshahs" was also carried out thanks to the efforts of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS). The purpose of the event is to attract the attention of the world community to the research and promotion of the history of Azerbaijan through the prism of the historical past of the State of Shirvanshahs. The opening speeches were made by the Minister of Culture Abulfaz Garayev, the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Akif Alizadeh, the head of the Office of the Icherisheher State History and Architecture Reserve Asker Alakbarov. As part of the conference, the exhibition "The heritage of the Shirvanshahs in museums of the world" was opened in the Shirvanshahs Palace, which will be open until January 23, 2019. Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation attended the opening ceremony of the event.

From around the world

Shirvanshahs was a Muslim state in Azerbaijan covering a vast territory from the Kura River to the city of Derbent. Formed in 861, it lasted until 1529.

Considering how many times the palace of Baku khans has been plundered since the fall of the dynasty until the end of the 19^th century, it is difficult to imagine the number of valuable items still stored, perhaps unknown to their owners, in many museums around the world, private collections, as well as in the attics and basements.

So far, researchers have been able to find and bring home items belonging to the Shirvanshahs from the museums of London. New York, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Paris, Istanbul, Tbilisi, and various museums of Azerbaijan (Baku, Shamakhi).

The collected collection is unique and includes huge boilers for military campaigns presented by our colleagues from Georgia, two chainmails and four helmets from the military museum of Turkey. The helmets have inscriptions in Arabic: either ayats from the Holy Quran or talismans. What is this?

Saadat Alakbarova, Head of the Scientific Exposition Department:

"Protective helmets belong to different periods. Specialists are working on decoding the inscriptions."

"Did this chainmail belong to real people? Judging by the size, their owners must have been very tall and strong."

"Absolutely. Here is one of them that belonged to Shirvanshah Khalilullah I. It is known that he was taller than two meters and died when he was hundred years old, with his strength and endurance intact until his last days. Imagine that, going to the battlefield, the warrior of that time had to put on his knee and elbow pads, carry a shield, sword, dagger plus the chainmail and helmet. All together, it is almost 25 kg! Shah fought with the enemies together with his warriors."

"And he lived for hundred years?"

"Yes, with his vision and sanity intact! He could read and write and masterfully use his dagger until his last breath...

"Now, can you imagine this man? Alas, the only figure of a man that you can imagine is that of Peter the Great, who played not the best role in the history of Baku. It was the cannons of his ships that caused serious damage to the Icheri Sheher, including the Shirvanshah's palace. This event is well documented in I. Kurukin's book "The Persian campaign of Peter the Great along the shores of the Caspian Sea (1722-1735)."

Our beautiful ancestors

In the first room of the exposition, you can see 3D exhibits showing that the Shirvanshahs were equally addicted to both military attributes (helmets, shields, battle masks) and household items (bowls, cups, etc.). Apparently, they were very different from us today. Their love of life, strange as it may sound, is manifested even in the aesthetic perfection of the weapons. Take, for example, a combat mask, which was attached to the helmet with a special clip on top (frontal part) and hooks on the level of the ear-temporal part of the left and right. It was supposed to protect against weak sliding shots; in this case, it is a work of art, because on top of it you can see a pattern and facial features of a beautiful person.

The main feature of the exhibition is decorations presented by the National Museum of the History of Azerbaijan - a small brooch with turquoise and rubies, which once belonged to the mother of Shirvanshah Khalilullah I, Bika Khanum. Its artistic design and execution surpasses that of the modern jewellers. Once caught to its aura, you will not forget its beauty and elegance. I wonder how the woman looked like if her son was taller than two meters. Judging by the grace of the jewellery, she was a woman of refined aesthetic taste! What was she wearing? What colours did she prefer? How did she walk? How did she talk? What was her voice like? And the voice of Khalilullah I?..

We can also see exquisite candlesticks, small household items including jugs, plates, bowls, a pendant for wearing the Quranic surah, the ancient Quran... At first, they seem quite normal but when you think and imagine that many centuries ago these items touched the hands of people whom we call today simply the Shirvanshahs, who had lived individual lives, experienced love and death, you involuntarily feel the breath of time.

Our cultural heritage is closely associated with the Shirvanshah dynasty duly preserved Azerbaijan not only for the sake of today and our historical memory and cultural identity, but also for the sake of our tomorrow. Because we shall not blame our past for the sake of our children. The truth of today bears a reminiscence of the past. And tomorrow...