Settlement
Ilisu
(Gakh area)
HISTORY
In
settlement Ilisu live ethnic ingiloys, the most part
of which assimilated with the Azerbaijani. There are
many historical data about the ethnic feature of ingiloys
living compactly in villages of Gakh, Zakatali, and
Belokani areas of Azerbaijan. In opinion of many researchers,
the habitat of ingiloys' settlement and other national
minorities' occupation of this zone concern the areal
of moving of the Albanian tribes. The ingiloys speak
one of the eastern dialects of the Georgian language.
According
to historical sources, in century I B.C. on the territory
of the ancient Azerbaijan state Albania there lived
a tribe of gellas. Ptolemy names the place of their
habitat Gelda. It is considered these gellas to be
ancestors of today's ingiloys. In the VII-th century,
after loss of independence by Albania and amplification
of impact of the Georgian church, the gellas fell
under strong influence of the Georgian culture and
gradually adopted the Georgian language. In the XVII-th
century the armies of Sefevid governor shah Abbas
I occupied territories populated by the gellas. Happened
to be under patronage of the Muslim state a part of
the gellas accepted islam. The gellas taken over islam
become called the ingiloys. Ethnicon "ingiloy" occurs
from the Azerbaijan words "yeni" - new and "geloy"
- gellas, i.e. "new gellas", "the gellas accepted
new belief".
The village Ilisu is a former capital of Ilisu Sultanate,
which was in vassal dependence from Jharo-Belokani
jamaats. Originally the capital of this sultanate
was Gàkh, but, subsequently, for good safety of his
sultanate the governor transferred the residence to
the settlement Ilisu.
The
most part of the population once was skilful handicraftsmen.
Each tribe was the holder of the certain kind of craft.
Secrets of many crafts passed on from generation to
generation.
Now the part of ingiloys constitutes themselves the
Azerbaijani, and the other part the Georgians depending
on creed. The centuries-old neighborhood of the ingiloys
and the Azerbaijani in many respects unified a life
and many features of culture. Now Ilisu inhabitants
reckon themselves the Azerbaijani.
|
