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:''For the city in Tajikistan, see Panj''.

'Ganja'

Azerbaijan-Ganja.png
Municipality:	Ganja
Area:	1000 km²
Altitude:	408 m
Population:	308,461 census 2007 [1]
Postal Code:	AZ1000
Area code:	016
Municipality code:	GA
Latitude:	40° 40' 58'' N
Longitude:	46° 21' 38'' E
Mayor:	Eldar Azizov

'Ganja' (Azerbaijani: ''Gəncə'', Persian: گنجه pronounced ''Ganj-ja'') is Azerbaijan's second largest city.
The city was most likely founded in the 5th century AD,^[1]. "Ganja" comes from the New Persian ''ganj'' (گنج: "treasure, treasury"),^[2] which itself is from the Middle Persian Ganjak of the same meaning.

Contents

History

Historic Armenian Community

Education

Famous people

Etnhic Groups

Religion

Languages

Pictures of Ganja

References

External links

History

Historically an important city of Caucasian Albania and Arran region, Ganja was part of Sassanid empire, Great Seljuk Empire, Atabegs of Azerbaijan, Il-Khans ^[3], Timurids ^[4], Jalayirids^[5], Qara Qoyunlu^[6], Ak Koyunlu^[7][2], and the Ganja Khanate, Ganja is also the birthplace of the famous poet Nizami. People of Ganja experienced a temporary cultural decline after an earthquake in 1139 and then again after the Mongol invasion in 1231. The city was revived after the Safavids came to power. For a short period of time, Ganja was renamed Abbasabad by Shah Abbas I.^[8] During the Safavid rule, it was the capital of the Karabakh (Ganja) beylerbey^[9], one of the four such administrative units and principalities.^[10] In 1747, Ganja became the capital of the independent Ganja Khanate. According to the October 1813 Gulistan Treaty, Ganja khanate and city, together with most of Azerbaijan and Georgia, was recognized as part of Russian Empire after Persia's defeat in the Persia-Russia wars.^[11] It was renamed 'Elizavetpol' after the wife of Alexander I of Russia, Elizabeth.
In 1918, Ganja became the temporary capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, at which point it was renamed Ganja again, until Baku was recaptured from the British backed Centrocaspian Dictatorship. In 1920, the Red Army occupied Azerbaijan and in 1935 Joseph Stalin renamed the city 'Kirovabad' after Sergei Kirov. In 1991, Azerbaijan re-established its independence, and the ancient name of the city was given back.
Today Ganja is the second largest city in Azerbaijan. [3] According to the official government data, at the beginning of 2006, the population of Ganja was 305,600.^[12][13] It has an international airport, and is home to the Nizami Mausoleum, re-built in 1991.

Historic Armenian Community

In addition to Azeris, the city has had a numerically, economically and culturally significant Armenian community.^[14] Among the Armenians, the city is known as Gandzak (Գանձակ). The medieval historian Movses Kagankatvatsi mentions that it was founded in the district called in Arshakashen (Արշակաշեն)^[15] The word Gandzak is likewise associated with the concept of treasure or riches - gandz (Arm. - գանձ). The city’s Armenian population left in 1989, in the process of forced population exchanges that defined the Karabakh conflict.
The city's historically important Christian figures include Kirakos Gandzaketsi (Կիրակոս Գանձակեցի, 1201-1271, author of the History of the Armenians ^[16]), Mkhitar Gosh (Մխիթար Գոշ, c. 1130–1213) author of the Code of Laws that was used in Armenia, Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and Armenian diasporan groups in Europe, and Grigor Paron-Ter (Գրիգոր Պարոն Տեր, 1560-1645) - Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Education

Ganja is home to four major institutes for post-secondary education.

★ Ganja State University

★ Azerbaijan State Agricultural Academy

★ Azerbaijan Technological University

★ Azerbaijan Teachers Institute, Ganja Branch

Famous people

Ganja is known for its famous people:

★ Nizami Ganjavi

★ Mahsati Ganjavi

★ Javad Khan

★ Kirakos Gandzaketsi

★ Mkhitar Gosh

★ Grigor Paron-Ter

★ Mirza Shafi Vazeh

★ Mirza Topchubashov

★ Israfil Mammadov

★ Fikrat Amirov

★ Nigar Rafibeyli

Etnhic Groups

★ Azeris 94% (289,953)

★ Other 5% (15,423)

Religion

★ Shia Islam 89% (271,784)

★ Sunni Islam 6% (18,322)

★ Christian and Jews 4% (12,215)

Languages

★ Azerbaijani Language 97% (296,214)

★ Russian Language 3% (9,161)

Pictures of Ganja

References

1. Encyclopedia Iranica, "Ganja", C. Edmund Bosworth
2. ibid., Iranica
3. Iran. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 17, 2007
4. Timurid Dynasty. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 16, 2007
5. Jalayirid. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 17, 2007
6. Kara Koyunlu. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 15, 2007
7. Ak Koyunlu. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 17, 2007
8. The Monuments of Ganja Khanate of the Period form 1606 - 1804 Seyyaf Sednik oqli Pashayev
9. "Beglerbeg" in Cyclopædia dictionary, (ed. Ephraim Chambers), First Volume, London: Printed for J. and J. Knapton (and 18 others), 1728, p. 95 (accessed March 17, 2007)
10. I.Petrushevskiy. Ocherki po istorii feodal'nikh otnosheniy d Azerbaijane i Armenii v XVI - nach. XIX vv., Leningrad, 1949, p. 122, in Russian
11. John F. Baddeley, "The Russian conquest of the Caucasus", London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908, p. 67, citing "Tsitsianoff's report to the Emperor: Akti, ix (supplement), p. 920".
12. The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, "Population by economic regions at the beginning of the 2006"
13. Census table for Azerbaijani cities
14. Soviet Census in 1926-1979, Newspaper Pravda Press, Moscow, 1983
15. History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movses Dasxuranci, C.J.F. Dowsett trans. (London 1961), chapter 21.
16. Kirakos, Gandzaketsi, History of the Armenians, New York: Sources of the Armenian Tradition, 1986.

External links

★ Ganja - The memories of stones

★ Ganja Automobile Factory

★ Ganja at the Azerbaijan Development Gateway

★ Historical Monuments of Ganja