Message | Since olden days Baku, its oil, “a burning soil” have been known far beyond its borders. The Medieval written sources related to Baku invariably refer to “the eternal flames” in its vicinities. One of the first to report about them at the beginning of the V century was Byzantine Prisk Paniyski who, while describing the cities of Caucasian Albania, mentioned the place where “the flame rises out of the reef”. The Arabian historian al-Balazuri also informs of oil and salt in Shirvan in 754. With the spread of Islam in the region beginning from the IX century Baku is mentioned in the written sources of Arabian geographers and historians as a small, but a developed feudal city. Invariably there are sources of white and dark gray oil in Baku. Caravans came here for oil from all parts of the Middle East. Slavonic, Khazar, Byzantine, Chinese, Iraqi, Syrian, Kenyan, Venetian, Iranian, and Indian tradesmen arrived in Baku. Being located in the intersection of trade routes Baku was always in the focus of attention of foreign invaders fighting for the influence in the region. |