Hinduism in Azerbaijanhas been tied tocultural diffusionon theSilk Road.One of the remnants of once-dominantHinduandBuddhistculture in theCaucasusisSurakhani,the site of theAteshgah of Baku.[1]As of 2020, there were about 500HindusinAzerbaijan.[2]
History
editIn theMiddle Ages,Hindu traders visited present-dayAzerbaijanforSilk Roadtrade. The area was traversed by Hindu traders coming mostly fromMultanandSindh(in present-day Pakistan). TheAtasghahinSurakhaniwas used by those traders to worship while in the area. Most of the traders left around the advent of theBritish Raj.The ceremonies were officiated by aPunjabipandit.[3]Historical sources indicate that locals worshipped at Surakhani even before the construction of the Atashgah, drawn by the "seven holes with burning flame" from which Surakhani takes its name.[4]In the 1880s, the CzarAlexander III of Russiawent to Azerbaijan to witness one of the last Hindu ceremonies performed there. After the 1890s, nearly all of the original Hindu merchants in Azerbaijan had died or left for The Indian Subcontinent.[5]
Demographics
edit| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 276 | — |
| 2020 | 500 | +81.2% |
| Source:[6] | ||
| Year | Percent | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.003% | - |
| 2020 | 0.005% | +0.002% |
ISKCON
editMembers of theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness(ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishnas, are registered in Baku.[7]In October 2002, authorities returned 20,000 of the 35,000 books seized in 1996 from the Baku Society of Krishna Consciousness[8]Azerbaijan Daily Digeststates that very fewAzeri peoplehave become Hare Krishna[9]and they are mostly represented by members ofISKCON.[10]
ISKCON has only one community in Azerbaijan, which is in Baku. Religious books of Hare Krishna or of other faiths are frequently seized by the State Customs Committee from travellers entering Azerbaijan through land or sea borders. Seizures also sometimes occur at Baku airport. Although Azerbaijan constitution protects religion freedom, there is a de facto ban on people exercising religions like Baha’is, Hare Krishna devotees etc.[11]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^Rare Hindu temple in Muslim Azerbaijan- Sify
- ^"Most Hindu Nations (2010)".QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >.The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 10 April 2016.Retrieved20 February2022.
- ^Pre – Islamic Vedic Culture in Afghanistan- NHCTUK
- ^Observations from the AncientsFarid Bakharov - Azerbaijan International
- ^My Travels Outside Bombay- Ervad Shams-Ul-Ulama Dr. Sir Jivanji Jamshedji Modi B. A., PhD C. I. E.
- ^"Most Hindu Nations (2010)".QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >.The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 10 April 2016.Retrieved20 February2022.
- ^Azerbaijan Daily Digest
- ^Azerbaijan
- ^Azerbaijan moves to impose tighter controlArchived16 July 2007 at theWayback Machine- Eurasian net
- ^International Religious Freedom Report 2006, Azerbaijan- U.S. State Department
- ^https:// nhc.no/content/uploads/2018/07/Rapport2_15_Aserbajdsjan_web.pdf[bare URL PDF]
External links
edit- ISKCON in Azerbaijan Official siteArchived26 June 2018 at theWayback Machine
- ISKCON in Azerbaijan
- AZERBAIJAN: Destruction for Krishna books as religion chief denies censorship
- Krishna stopped from preaching outside Baku
- Rare Hindu temple in Muslim Azerbaijan
- In search for an ancient Hindu temple in Azerbaijan