چکیده:
This study aims to throw some lights on certain aspects of pre-modern social life in the south Caucasus. Focusing on Shushi as a typical case, it attempts to explain different characteristics of urban life in 18th century south Caucasus in relation to the political, ecological and social conditions of the region. Central to this study is an attempt to explain the contribution of tribal force to the formation of urban life. Following a general look on the historical background, it traced the process through which a tribal governor established Shushi as his center of power and developed it to become a small town. In the meantime, it surveys the physical as well as social structures of the town as a part of its historical development. Finally, it tries to highlight the role of Russian domination in continuation and development of Shushi's urban life in a modern period. The study shows that Shushi's historical development as a typical case in 18th and early 19th south Caucasia has been directly affected by both internal and external factors.
خلاصه ماشینی:
First, the emergence and expansion of Shusha occurred within a transformative context that witnessed the transition of the South Caucasus region from the period of decentralized rule by Iranian Khans to the period of Tsarist Russian dominance and the resulting structural changes.
Second, Shusha was originally an Armenian fortress that, over several decades and through the direct and effective intervention of political actors and the will of local rulers, transformed into a small town and subsequently developed under the support of an occupying power; a city that became home to a relatively significant population of Armenian and Muslim people from its surroundings and saw the formation of several neighborhoods within half a century.
In comparison to the cities located in the central zone of the South Caucasus, which were exposed to continuous raiding, insecurity, and military campaigns, the cities on the western coast of the Caspian Sea benefited from greater stability and security, both due to the dominance of the Russian and Iranian empires over them in the first half of the 18th century AD and thanks to the wealth resources that maritime trade with Iran and Russia provided to their local rulers.
14 During the interregnum period that lasted from the assassination of Nader Shah to the emergence of Agha Mohammad Khan, the forced transfer of population increased significantly due to the decrease in security caused by the lack of order arising from the absence of central government authority and the weakness of local rulers' power; the people of Shirvan and Karabakh, which were considered two large and wealthy provinces of the Caucasus, experienced this situation more than other areas.
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