Episodes
The 1918 Baku Massacre: Oil, Ethnicity, and Soviet Memory
In March 1918, Baku erupted in violence that killed thousands and left deep scars. This episode of The Story of Azerbaijan examines the March Days — the ethnic clashes between the Bolshevik-led Baku Soviet, Armenian Dashnaks, and Azerbaijani Muslims in the chaos of World War I's final year. We trace the tangled alliances, the role of Stepan Shaumian's Bolsheviks and Müsavat, the short-lived Baku Commune, and how the massacre shaped Azerbaijani national memory. We also revisit the competing…
The 1918 Battle of Baku: Oil, Chaos, and the Fall of the City
In the autumn of 1918, as the Ottoman army advanced on Baku, the city's brief Bolshevik experiment collapsed in chaos. This episode tells the story of the Battle of Baku — how a ragtag force of Armenian volunteers, British troops from Persia, and local Azerbaijani fighters clashed over the world's richest oil fields. We trace the desperate diplomacy, the brutal street fighting, and the moments that decided the city's fate. Along the way, we meet figures like Lionel Dunsterville, the British…
The Coup That Made Baku Bolshevik: 1917's Bloodless Revolution
In October 1917, before the Winter Palace fell, Baku's Bolsheviks quietly took power in a coup so smooth it barely registered. This episode unpacks how Stepan Shaumian and his comrades seized the city's Soviets, why the Azerbaijani nationalists of the Musavat party initially cooperated, and how the promise of a socialist utopia dissolved into the chaos of the Baku Commune within months. We trace the factions—Bolsheviks, Musavat, Dashnaks, SRs—and the fragile alliances that shattered over the…
Yanar Dag: Azerbaijan's Eternal Flame Through History
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the burning hillside of Yanar Dag, Azerbaijan's famous eternal flame, and the deeper history of fire in the Caucasus. They trace how natural gas seeps shaped Zoroastrian worship, drew medieval travelers like Marco Polo, and even influenced Soviet-era infrastructure. The conversation moves from ancient fire temples to modern tourism, asking what it means to call this land the 'Land of Fire.' Along the way, they touch on the role of the Absheron Peninsula's…
Baku's First Oil Boom: The Mansurov Brothers
Before the Nobels and Rothschilds turned Baku into the world's oil capital, a handful of local families sparked the first rush. This episode follows the Mansurov brothers, Baku's pioneering oil magnates, who drilled some of the earliest wells in the Absheron peninsula in the 1860s and 70s. We trace how they secured leases from the imperial Russian government, dug wells by hand using primitive tools, and shipped crude in wooden barrels across the Caspian. Their success attracted the attention of…
The Baku Commune: 1918's Bold Experiment
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the brief but dramatic life of the Baku Commune of 1918, a revolutionary government that tried to reshape the Caucasus in the chaos of World War I and the Russian Revolution. They trace its rise under Stepan Shaumian, the 'Caucasian Lenin,' and the extraordinary ethnic mix of Bolsheviks, Armenians, and Azerbaijani workers who briefly united against a backdrop of war, famine, and oil politics. The episode follows the Commune's struggles—including the…
The Aras River: Azerbaijan's Natural Border and Symbol
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna turn to the Aras River — the quiet constant threading through centuries of Azerbaijani history. From its source in the Armenian highlands to its confluence with the Kura, the Aras has been a frontier, a battlefield, and a symbol of national identity. They trace the river's role in the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which split Azerbaijan between Russia and Persia in 1828, and its echoes in the 1945–46 Azerbaijan People's Government, which…
The 1905 Revolution That Shook Baku
In 1905, Baku's oil fields exploded in flames — not from a strike, but from an explosion of ethnic violence that would reshape the Caucasus and the Russian Empire itself. This episode peels back the layers of the Armenian-Tatar clashes, the general strike that paralyzed the industry, and the unlikely figures who tried to stop the bloodshed. We meet the young Joseph Stalin, who staged a fake marriage to dodge the Okhrana, and the Nobel brothers' chief engineer, whose dogged efforts kept the…
The Baku Oil Boom and the Armenian Ties That Shaped It
Before the Rothschilds and Nobels, Armenian entrepreneurs were the backbone of Baku's first oil rush. This episode follows the Mansurovs, Mirzoevs, and Lianozovs — the dynasties who drilled the first wells, built the first refineries, and funded the city's grandest buildings. We trace how their capital and expertise made Baku a global energy hub, and how the same families navigated the ethnic tensions that would later redefine the Caucasus. From the first drilled well in Bibi-Heybat to the rise…
The Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan: Fire, Oil, and the Land of Flames
This episode, 'The Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan: Fire, Oil, and the Land of Flames,' dives into the explosive geology behind Azerbaijan's ancient nickname, the Land of Fire. Hosts Lucas and Luna explore how mud volcanoes, not just oil seeps, fueled Zoroastrian worship at the Ateshgah and shaped the region's mythology. They trace the science from the Absheron Peninsula to the Gobustan mud fields, discussing the giant eruptions of 2001 and 2018, and the link between these volcanoes and the…
The Fire Temple of Baku: Zoroastrianism and the Ateshgah
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the Ateshgah of Baku, the ancient fire temple on the Absheron Peninsula that has drawn Zoroastrian pilgrims, Hindu traders, and European travelers for centuries. They trace the temple's origins back to the Zoroastrian reverence for fire, its connection to the natural gas vents that made the region a place of 'eternal flames,' and its later transformation into a Hindu pilgrimage site under the Persian Safavid Empire. Along the…
The Ateshgah of Baku: Where Fire Worship Met Oil
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, we turn to a site that has fascinated travelers for centuries: the Ateshgah of Surakhany on the Absheron Peninsula. Before the oil boom, before the Nobel brothers, before the Rothschild pipelines, there was fire. The Ateshgah—a temple complex built over natural gas vents—became a pilgrimage point for Zoroastrians, Hindus, and Sikhs, who left inscriptions in Sanskrit, Punjabi, and Persian. We explore the legend of the 'eternal flames,' the merchant…
The Baku Bombing: World War II Oil Raids
In June 1941, weeks after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Luftwaffe struck Baku's oil fields in a series of raids that nearly crippled the Red Army's fuel supply. This episode follows the attacks, the desperate defenses, and the extraordinary story of how a fake Luftwaffe squadron—created by Soviet intelligence—saved the city from destruction. We trace the strategic importance of Baku's oil to both Hitler and Stalin, the role of the Azerbaijani workers who kept the wells burning…
The Caucasian Albanian Church: Azerbaijan's Forgotten Christian Heritage
Before Islam, before the Turkic migrations, the land of Azerbaijan was home to a Christian church that once rivalled Byzantium. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Caucasian Albanian Church — its ancient roots, its mysterious alphabet, and its centuries-long struggle for survival against Sassanian Persia, the Khazar Khaganate, and eventually the Seljuk and Mongol invasions. Discover how the Albanian Apostolic Church merged with the Armenian Apostolic Church, and how its legacy survives…
The Shirvanshahs: Azerbaijan's Forgotten Royal Dynasty
Long before Baku's oil boom and the rise of the Azerbaijani republic, a dynasty of Persianized Arab princes ruled the eastern Caucasus from their capital at Shamakhi. The Shirvanshahs — whose name comes from the region of Shirvan — held power for nearly a thousand years, surviving the Khazar Khaganate, Seljuk invasions, Mongol conquests, and Timur's campaigns. In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore how the Shirvanshahs built one of the longest-lasting Muslim…
The Maiden Tower Mystery: Baku's Ancient Enigma
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna climb into the legend and lore of Baku's most iconic landmark, the Maiden Tower. They trace its possible origins from a Zoroastrian fire temple to a Sasanian fortress, and explore the many tales that surround it—from the tragic princess who threw herself into the Caspian to the mysterious inscriptions that still puzzle scholars. Along the way, they discuss the tower's unique architecture, its role in the city's defense, and its enduring…
Gobustan Rock Art: Azerbaijan's Ancient Storytellers
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna step back from the oil derricks and Soviet metro to trace the very first Azerbaijani voices — the petroglyphs of Gobustan. Carved into the desert cliffs southwest of Baku, these six thousand images record the lives of people who hunted aurochs, danced in wild rituals, and sailed the Caspian in reed boats long before Zoroastrian fire temples or Nobel pipelines. Lucas explains how the site's remarkable preservation lets us glimpse a world…
The Silk Road's Hidden Chapter: Silk, Sassanians, and the Caspian Road
Before oil, before empires, Azerbaijan was a crossroads of the ancient world. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the Silk Road's lesser-known branch through the Caucasus, following silk caravans from China to the Caspian Sea, then on to Rome and Byzantium. They uncover how the Sassanian Empire, the Khazar Khaganate, and local merchants along the Caspian Road shaped a trading network that linked East and West centuries before the Mongols. Along the way, they visit the ancient city of…
How the Nobel Brothers Transformed Baku's Oil Industry
Long before the Rothschilds or Standard Oil, a Swedish family turned Baku's crude seeps into a modern industrial empire. Robert Nobel came to buy wood for rifle stocks and left with an oil concession. Brother Ludvig engineered the first oil tanker, the first pipeline, and the first fully electrified oil field. By the 1880s, their company Branobel produced half of Russia's oil. This episode tells the story of the Nobel brothers' vision, their rivalry with the Rothschilds, and how their…
The Azerbaijan People's Government of 1945-46
In 1945, as World War II ended, a new crisis brewed in Iranian Azerbaijan. With Soviet backing, the Azerbaijan Democratic Party under Jafar Pishevari established an autonomous government in Tabriz, briefly reviving a sense of Azerbaijani national identity south of the Aras. This episode explores the rise and fall of the Azerbaijan People's Government, the role of oil concessions, the Cold War tensions that brought it to the UN Security Council, and the crushing return of Iranian rule under…
Hasan Bey Zardabi and the First Azerbaijani Newspaper Akinchi
In 1875, a teacher named Hasan bey Zardabi launched Əkinçi (The Ploughman), the first newspaper ever published in the Azerbaijani language. Printed in Baku, it defied the Russian Empire's censorship and the indifference of a largely illiterate population. Zardabi used the paper to promote modern education, agricultural reform, and a sense of national identity among Turkic-speaking Muslims of the Caucasus. This episode traces Zardabi's intellectual journey from a village in the Zardab region to…
Heydar Aliyev and the Contract That Reshaped Azerbaijan
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Heydar Aliyev, the former KGB officer turned Soviet leader who became the founding father of modern Azerbaijan. They zero in on the pivotal 'Contract of the Century' — the 1994 oil deal that transformed Azerbaijan's post-Soviet economy and cemented its independence. Along the way, they discuss Aliyev's rise through the Communist Party, his role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the strategic shift that…
Nariman Narimanov: The Doctor Who Revolutionized Azerbaijan
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna delve into the life of Nariman Narimanov—a physician, playwright, and revolutionary who shaped early Soviet Azerbaijan. Born in Tiflis in 1870, Narimanov studied medicine in Odessa, wrote satirical plays like 'Shamdan Bey' that critiqued corruption and religious hypocrisy, and emerged as a key figure in the Baku Soviet after the 1905 Revolution. As chairman of the Azerbaijan Council of People's Commissars from 1920, he navigated the…
The Treaty of Turkmenchay: How Russia and Persia Split Azerbaijan
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828, the peace agreement that permanently divided the Azerbaijani people between the Russian and Persian empires. They discuss the Russo-Persian Wars, the role of generals like Ivan Paskevich and Abbas Mirza, the terms of the treaty, and how the Aras River became a national boundary. The episode examines the treaty's legacy for Azerbaijani national identity, the subsequent development of northern…
Azerbaijan's Alphabet Revolution: From Arabic to Latin to Cyrillic
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic shifts in Azerbaijan's writing system as a reflection of its national identity and political turmoil. Starting with the Arabic script used during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, they trace the bold Latinization campaign of the 1920s—championed at the historic Baku Turkology Congress of 1926—and the subsequent forced Cyrillization under Stalin in the late 1930s. Key figures like Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, Abdulla…
The City on Stilts: Neft Daşları and the Birth of Offshore Oil
After World War II, the Soviet Union faced an oil crisis. Land reserves in Baku were drying up. So Stalin ordered engineers to do what had never been attempted: build an oil platform in the middle of the Caspian Sea. The result was Neft Daşları — a strange, sprawling city on stilts, with bridges, schools, and a park, all perched above the waves. This episode tells the story of how Azerbaijan pioneered offshore drilling, from the first salvaged ships used as foundations to the peak of production…
The Rothschild Pipeline: How Baku Oil Reached the West
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, we explore how the Rothschild family—already famous for banking—became titans of the Baku oil industry and built one of the world's first long-distance pipelines. Completed in 1906, the Baku-Batumi pipeline stretched over 1,000 kilometers from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, slashing transport costs and flooding European markets with Azerbaijani crude. We trace the rise of the Caspian and Black Sea Oil Company (Bnito) from its founding in 1883, the…
The Battle of Baku 1918: Oil, Empire, and the Fight for the Caucasus
In September 1918, the fate of Baku's oil fields hung in the balance as Ottoman forces under Nuri Pasha clashed with a motley coalition of Bolsheviks, Armenian Dashnaks, and a small British contingent known as Dunsterforce. This episode recounts the pivotal Battle of Baku, a desperate struggle that determined control of the world's richest oil reserves during World War I. We trace the Ottoman advance from Ganja, the fierce engagement at Goychay, the collapse of the Baku Commune, and the city's…
The First Muslim Democracy: Azerbaijan's Brief Republic, 1918-1920
In the chaos of 1918, as empires collapsed and revolution swept the Caucasus, something extraordinary happened: the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was born — the first secular democratic republic in the Muslim world. This episode focuses on its founding in Ganja, its visionary first prime minister Fatali Khan Khoyski, and the whirlwind two years that followed. We cover the declaration of independence of May 28, 1918, the drafting of a constitution, the adoption of the tricolor flag, and the…
The Baku Oil Barons and the Young Turk Connection
In this episode, we explore a forgotten chapter of Baku's oil boom: the surprising links between the city's oil magnates and the Young Turk movement in the Ottoman Empire. How did Baku's petroleum wealth fund the 1908 Young Turk Revolution? We follow the story of Mehmed Emin Resulzade, the Azerbaijani journalist and future leader of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, who operated in Baku's oil-funded underground press. We also uncover the role of Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, the self-made oil…
The Baku Commune and the March Days of 1918
In the spring of 1918, as the Russian Empire collapsed and World War I raged, Baku became a crucible of revolution and ethnic violence. This episode explores the short-lived Baku Commune led by Bolshevik Stepan Shaumyan, the March Days massacre that pitted Armenian Dashnaks against Azerbaijani Muslims, and the subsequent rise of the Centro-Caspian Dictatorship. We trace the shifting alliances—Bolsheviks, Musavatists, British forces, and Ottoman troops—that turned Baku into a bloody chessboard.…
The Nargin Island Prison: Baku's Forgotten Gulag
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore a dark chapter of Baku's history: Nargin Island, a small patch of land in the Caspian Sea that became a prison and execution site under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. From its use as a quarantine station for oil workers to its role in the brutal repression following the 1905 Revolution and the Stalinist purges, Nargin held thousands of political prisoners, including members of the Musavat Party, Bolsheviks, and…
Baku's Fire Temple: Zoroastrian Pilgrims and the Worship of Burning Gas
Before the oil barons and Soviet engineers, the Absheron Peninsula was known for its mysterious eternal flames. In this episode, Lucas and Luna visit the ancient Surakhany temple complex — Ateshgah — where natural gas seeping from the ground created a sacred fire that drew Zoroastrian pilgrims from Persia and even India. They explore the site's origins, its connection to the Zoroastrian faith, how it became a stopping point on the Silk Road, and the 17th-century reconstruction that turned it…
The Caspian Sea's Shifting Shoreline and Baku's Oil History
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, hosts Lucas and Luna explore how the Caspian Sea's changing coastline shaped Baku's oil industry and the region's history. From ancient Zoroastrian fire temples to the Nobel brothers' oil empire, they discuss the geological forces that repeatedly submerged and revealed oil fields, the engineering challenges of the Black City and Balakhany, and how the Caspian's rise and fall influenced Soviet-era projects like Neft Daşları, the world's first offshore…
Javad Khan's Ghost: How Ganja Shaped the Russo-Iranian Border
In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the aftermath of the 1804 siege of Ganja and the shadow of Javad Khan, whose defiant last stand against the Russian Empire reshaped the Caucasus. They trace how the Javanshir tribe's resilience, the fractured Qajar response, and the Treaty of Gulistan's ambiguous borders set the stage for a century of conflict. Along the way, they uncover the story of the Ganja Gate—a monument to loss and memory—and how local historians still…
The Woman Who Wrote Azerbaijan: Khurshidbanu Natavan's Poetry and Power
In the 19th century, when the khanates of the Caucasus were crumbling under Russian imperial pressure, one woman rose to become the voice of her people. Khurshidbanu Natavan — poet, patron, and the last heir of the Karabakh Khanate — wrote verses of love and loss while navigating the treacherous politics of empire. This episode follows her life from the gardens of Shusha to the salons of Tiflis, where she mingled with writers and revolutionaries. We explore her famous ghazals, her role in…
The Baku Metro: Soviet Engineering in the Oil City
In the 1940s, Baku's oil fields made it a strategic jewel of the USSR, but the city's cramped streets and growing population cried out for a metro. This episode dives into the Baku Metro's origins: the post-war feasibility studies, the 1954 design competition, the 1963 start of construction, and the 1967 opening of the first line from Bakı Soveti to Nəriman Nərimanov. We explore the challenges of building tunnels through Absheron's porous limestone and the metro's role as a bomb shelter during…
The 1905 Revolution in Baku: Oil, Strikes, and the Rise of Mass Politics
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the tumultuous year of 1905 in Baku, when a general strike paralyzed the oil industry and violence erupted between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. They examine how the 1905 Revolution in the Russian Empire played out on the Absheron Peninsula, with workers organizing across ethnic lines alongside the burgeoning Bolshevik and Musavatist movements. Key figures include Stepan Shaumyan, the Armenian Bolshevik leader, and Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, who emerged from…
The Black City: Baku's Oil Frontier Before the Boom
Long before the Nobel brothers and the oil barons, Baku's Absheron peninsula was already an industrial frontier. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the early oil history of Baku — from the hand-dug wells of Balaxanı to the founding of the 'Black City' refinery district. They discuss the role of Russian imperial policy in opening the region to private enterprise, the grueling labor of the oil workers, and the environmental transformation of the landscape. Along the way, they visit the mud…
Baku's City Duma: Oil Tycoons and Municipal Power
In the early 1900s, Baku's oil boom created immense wealth in the hands of a few tycoons, mostly Muslim Azerbaijanis. But the city's governance was dominated by Russian imperial officials and a property-based voting system that all but excluded the native population. This episode explores how oil baron Zeynalabdin Taghiyev (Hacı Zeynalabdin Tağıyev) and his peers fought for representation, culminating in the Baku City Duma — an elected municipal body that became a rare space for Azeri political…
Baku's Black January 1990: The Day the USSR Broke Azerbaijan
On the night of January 19–20, 1990, Soviet tanks rolled into Baku to crush a popular front movement demanding independence. This episode unpacks the events of 'Black January' (Qara Yanvar): the Kremlin's decision under Gorbachev, the violence that left over a hundred civilians dead, and the long-term consequences that pushed Azerbaijan decisively toward secession. We discuss the role of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP), the crackdown's impact on national identity, and how the tragedy…
The Baku City Duma: Oil Tycoons, Reform, and Municipal Power
Before Baku became the Soviet Union's oil capital, its city council—the Baku City Duma—was a stage where Azerbaijani oil magnates, Armenian industrialists, Russian officials, and a rising working class clashed over taxes, infrastructure, and power. This episode traces the Duma's creation in 1878, its early dominance by a handful of oil barons like Zeynalabdin Taghiyev and the Nobel brothers, and the gradual emergence of a reformist bloc that pushed for public schools, water supply, and fire…
The Baku Oil Boom: How One City Fueled the Russian Empire
In the late 19th century, Baku transformed from a sleepy Caspian port into the world's largest oil producer, pumping half the global supply by 1901. This episode explores the explosive growth of the oil industry on the Absheron Peninsula—the pioneering techniques of the Nobel brothers, the rise of the local magnate Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, the brutal working conditions in the Balakhany fields, and the environmental devastation that turned the Caspian coastline into a 'black city.' We discuss the…
The Nobel Brothers and Baku's Oil Empire
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Nobel brothers—Ludvig, Robert, and Alfred—transformed Baku's oil industry in the late 19th century. They discuss Robert Nobel's acquisition of a small refinery in 1873, Ludvig's engineering innovations like the world's first oil tanker Zoroaster and the Nobel Brothers' pipeline system, and how Branobel became a global giant rivaling Standard Oil. They touch on the social impact on Baku's workforce, the rise of the Rothschilds and the early oil…
The Caspian Fisheries: Caviar, Cossacks, and Empire
Before oil made Baku famous, the Caspian Sea was the world's greatest source of caviar. This episode traces the rise and fall of Azerbaijan's sturgeon fisheries — from medieval Persian trade routes to Russian imperial monopolies under Peter the Great, the brutal overfishing of the Soviet era, and the poaching crisis that has driven beluga sturgeon to the brink of extinction. Lucas and Luna explore how the khanates of the Caspian coast controlled the catch, how the Romanovs turned caviar into a…
The Nakhichevan Autonomy: A Khanate Carved by Treaty
In 1828, the Treaty of Turkmenchay redrew the map of the Caucasus, awarding the khanate of Nakhichevan to the Russian Empire and creating a lasting geopolitical anomaly. This episode follows the last khan, Ehsan Khan Kangarli, who switched sides from Qajar Persia to Russia and was allowed to rule under Russian suzerainty. We explore how his family navigated the imposition of Russian administration, the arrival of Armenian settlers after the treaty, and the gradual erosion of khanate power.…
The Khanate That Wouldn't Surrender: Shaki's Last Stand
In 1819, two years after Russia swallowed the last Azerbaijani khanates, General Aleksey Yermolov arrived at the fortress of Shaki with an ultimatum: surrender or be destroyed. The ruler, Jafargulu Khan, had already seen his neighbors crushed one by one. But he had something they didn't: a network of mountain forts, a vengeful uncle who fought at Aslanduz, and a secret correspondence with the Qajar prince Abbas Mirza. This episode unpacks the forgotten siege of Shaki, the brutal siegecraft of…
The Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828: Russia's Caucasus Conquest Complete
The Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828 was the conflict that finally erased the khanates of the Caucasus and set Azerbaijan's modern borders. In this episode, we trace the war from its beginning when Abbas Mirza's Persian army invaded the Russian-held khanates in 1826, through the brutal sieges of Shusha and Ganja, to General Paskevich's lightning campaign that captured Erivan and Tabriz. We examine the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which forced Persia to cede the khanates of Nakhchivan and Erivan, and…
Ateshgah: Baku's Ancient Fire Temple and the Zoroastrian Pilgrims
Lucas and Luna explore the Ateshgah fire temple on the Absheron Peninsula, a site where natural gas vents have fueled sacred flames for centuries. They trace the temple's layered history: built as a Hindu-Sikh shrine by Indian merchants in the 17th–18th centuries, but sitting on a landscape long venerated by Zoroastrians. They discuss the temple's architecture, the pilgrimage routes from India and Persia, the role of the Baku oil boom in its decline, and how it became a museum after the Soviet…
The Alphabet Revolution: Azerbaijan's Script Wars
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the fascinating and turbulent history of Azerbaijan's alphabets — from Arabic script under the Qajars and Russian Empire to Latin in the early Soviet era under the Yeniəlifba movement, then a forced switch to Cyrillic under Stalin, and finally the post-Soviet return to Latin. Along the way, they discuss key figures like Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, the poet Mirza Fatali Akhundov, and Soviet linguist Nikolay Yakovlev. They examine how script became a…
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