Muslim Social Democratic Party

TheMuslim Social Democratic Party,usually referred to asHummet(Azerbaijani:Hümmət) ( "Endeavor" ), was apolitical partyinSouth Caucasus.In 1920, it merged with "Adalat" (Azerbaijani:Ədalət) ( "Justice" ) communist cell inBaku,forming the firstCommunist Party of Azerbaijan.

"Old" Hummet (1904 - 1920)

At the end of 1904, the Baku committee of theRussian Social Democratic Partycreated the Hummet in order to attractMuslimworkers. Prominent Hummet politicians includedMammed Amin Rasulzade(until 1913),Meshadi Azizbekov,Prokopius Dzhaparidze,Sultan Medjid Efendiev,Zeynal ZeynalovandNariman Narimanov.A series of arrests in 1911 weakened the activities of the party, but after theFebruary Revolution,the Hummet renewed its operations. From 1918 to 1920 the Hummet was represented in the parliament of theAzerbaijan Democratic Republic. On February 20, 1920, it merged with the Adalat Party, the Ahrar Party of Iran and Baku Bolsheviks to establish theAzerbaijan Communist Party.

Some sources report that pro-Bolshevik Muslims from the Hummet party participatedin theMarch Events,massacres by theShaumyan-led Bolshevik Baku Soviet andDashnakmilitia against Azerbaijanis in Baku, in a bid to suppress theMusavatparty and to gain control of Baku.Other sources, on the contrary, report that Hummet party members were very critical of the conduct of the events. This is confirmed by the words ofSultan Majid Efendiyevwho wrote:

TheDashnaks,who for handsome pay protected the capitalists, Taghiev, Naghiev, and others, massacred to a man, in the name of the Soviet, the population of entire blocks and sections inhabited by the Muslim poor. The Dashnaks under the command of such millionaires as Lalaiev and others, were now destroying not only the Musavatists but Muslims in general... The course of events led to a situation in which the comrades who stood at the head of the Soviet,Shaumyan,Japaridze,and others, became themselves prisoners of Dashnaks..

References

• Гуммет | Баку | Энциклопедия | История