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  • The Azerbaijani Cossacks: Muslim Warriors of the Tsar

    The Azerbaijani Cossacks: Muslim Warriors of the Tsar
    2026/06/13
    A forgotten chapter of imperial history: the Azerbaijani Cossack regiments that served the Russian Tsar from the early 19th century until the Bolshevik Revolution. This episode explores how Muslim horsemen from the Caucasus were integrated into the Cossack estate, their role in the Russo-Persian and Russo-Turkish wars, their distinctive uniforms and weapons, and the cultural hybridity they embodied. We also uncover the tragic fate of these regiments during the Russian Civil War, when many were caught between Red and White armies, and the legacy they left in modern Azerbaijani military tradition. Based on archival sources from the Russian State Military Historical Archive and the works of historian Firuz Kazemzadeh. #AzerbaijaniCossacks #CossackHistory #RussoPersianWars #RussoTurkishWars #CaucasusHistory #RussianEmpire #MuslimCossacks #AzerbaijanHistory #RussianArmy #FiruzKazemzadeh #RussianCivilWar #Azerbaijan #Caucasus #ImperialRussia #MilitaryHistory #History #FexingoHistory #CossackRegiments Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • The Sovietization of Azerbaijan: Bloody April and the 11th Red Army

    The Sovietization of Azerbaijan: Bloody April and the 11th Red Army
    2026/06/13
    In April 1920, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic — the first Muslim democracy in the world — was invaded and crushed by the 11th Red Army of Soviet Russia. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the final months of ADR independence, the Bolshevik military operation codenamed 'Operation Absheron', the role of local communists like Nariman Narimanov and Anastas Mikoyan, the fall of Baku on April 28, and the brutal aftermath: executions, forced collectivization, and the absorption of Azerbaijan into the Soviet Union. They also touch on the brief Musavat resistance in Ganja and the fate of ADR leaders like Mammad Emin Rasulzadeh. This is a story of a young republic crushed by a ruthless military occupation, and the erasure of a democratic experiment in the name of revolution. #Azerbaijan #Sovietization #11thRedArmy #AzerbaijanDemocraticRepublic #BloodyApril #Baku #NarimanNarimanov #AnastasMikoyan #MammadEminRasulzadeh #Musavat #GanjaUprising #Bolshevik #April1928 #Caucasus #SovietUnion #RussianCivilWar #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • Molla Nasraddin: The Satirical Magazine That Roared in Baku

    Molla Nasraddin: The Satirical Magazine That Roared in Baku
    2026/06/12
    In the early 1900s, a satirical magazine published in Baku became the most subversive publication in the Muslim world. Molla Nasraddin, named after a folk trickster, used cartoons and biting prose to mock corrupt clergy, ignorant mullahs, oil barons, and empire alike. Launched by Jalil Mammadquluzadeh in 1906, it reached readers from Cairo to Calcutta, blending Azerbaijani Turkic with a modern, critical voice. This episode explores how the magazine's editor and writers risked exile and censorship to advocate for women's education, secularism, and social justice — all while making people laugh. We look at specific cartoons that enraged the Tsarist authorities and the Shia clergy, and how Molla Nasraddin shaped a generation of reformers. The magazine ran for 25 years, moving from Baku to Tabriz and finally to Baku under Soviet rule, a testament to the enduring power of satire against tyranny. #MollaNasraddin #JalilMammadquluzadeh #Satire #AzerbaijaniLiterature #Baku #Caucasus #Qajar #TsaristRussia #Cartoons #WomenEducation #Secularism #PressFreedom #MuslimModernism #Azerbaijan #History #FexingoHistory #1906 #Tabriz Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • The Nargin Island POW Camp: World War I on Baku's Doorstep

    The Nargin Island POW Camp: World War I on Baku's Doorstep
    2026/06/12
    During World War I, a remote island in the Caspian Sea became an unexpected prisoner-of-war camp, holding thousands of Ottoman soldiers captured on the Caucasus front. Nargin Island, just off the coast of Baku, was a barren rock with no fresh water, overlooked by the Russian Empire as a place to confine enemy combatants. This episode explores the harsh conditions, the international legal debates around treatment of POWs, and the lesser-known story of how these prisoners interacted with the diverse population of Baku. We discuss the Ottoman soldiers' origins, the role of the Red Cross, and the camp's evolution after the Russian Revolution. We also touch on how the memory of Nargin Island has been preserved — or forgotten — in modern Azerbaijan. Drawing on archival records and eyewitness accounts, we piece together a chapter of World War I that rarely makes it into the standard histories of the Caucasus. #NarginIsland #POWcamp #WorldWarI #CaucasusCampaign #OttomanEmpire #RussianEmpire #Baku #CaspianSea #PrisonersOfWar #RedCross #Bayil #Absheron #FirstWorldWar #History #FexingoHistory #AzerbaijanHistory #MilitaryHistory #EasternFront Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • Baku's Oil Boom: The City That Built the 20th Century

    Baku's Oil Boom: The City That Built the 20th Century
    2026/06/11
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Baku's oil industry transformed from a local phenomenon into a global force that powered the 20th century. They discuss the geology of the Absheron Peninsula, the role of the Nobel and Rothschild families, the rise of the first oil tanker Zoroaster, and the construction of the Baku-Batumi pipeline. The conversation also touches on the human cost: the exploitation of workers, the 1904 strike, and the environmental legacy. Along the way, they examine how oil wealth shaped Baku's architecture, culture, and politics, setting the stage for the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. #Baku #OilBoom #Absheron #Nobel #Rothschild #Zoroaster #Pipeline #Batumi #WorkersStrike #1904 #Azerbaijan #Caucasus #History #FexingoHistory #IndustrialRevolution #BlackGold #Petroleum #CaspianSea Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • The Shirvanshahs: Azerbaijan's Forgotten Dynasty

    The Shirvanshahs: Azerbaijan's Forgotten Dynasty
    2026/06/11
    Before the oil barons and the Russian conquest, Azerbaijan was ruled for nearly 700 years by a dynasty you've probably never heard of: the Shirvanshahs. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the rise and fall of these Persianate kings who built Baku's Old City, commissioned the Maiden Tower, and turned a small Caspian principality into a cultural powerhouse. We follow the dynasty from its origins in the 9th century under the Yazidi family, through the golden age of the 12th-century poet Khaqani, to the devastating Mongol invasions, and finally the Shirvanshahs' last stand against the Safavids in 1538. Along the way, we visit the crumbling palace complex in Baku, decode the mysterious inscriptions on the Maiden Tower, and ask why this long-lived dynasty is so little remembered today. If you've walked through Icheri Sheher and wondered who built those stones — this is their story. #Shirvanshahs #Azerbaijan #Baku #IcheriSheher #MaidenTower #Khaqani #Safavid #Mongol #Caucasus #Shirvan #PalaceOfTheShirvanshahs #Persianate #MedievalHistory #IslamicHistory #Yazidi #Derbent #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • Zeynalabdin Taghiyev: Azerbaijan's Oil Philanthropist

    Zeynalabdin Taghiyev: Azerbaijan's Oil Philanthropist
    2026/06/10
    This episode explores the life and legacy of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, the self-made oil baron who used his vast fortune to modernize Baku and nurture Azerbaijani national identity. Born into a poor shoemaker's family, Taghiyev rose to become the wealthiest man in the Caucasus, funding schools, theaters, and the first Muslim girls' school in the Russian Empire. We discuss his rivalry with the Nobel brothers, his role in the 1904 Mazut Constitution, his patronage of the Molla Nasraddin satirical magazine, and his tragic end after the Bolshevik takeover. The conversation also touches on the Ismailiyya Palace and Taghiyev's vision for a secular, educated Azerbaijan. #HajiZeynalabdinTaghiyev #BakuOil #AzerbaijanHistory #Caucasus #RussianEmpire #OilBarons #Philanthropy #MazutConstitution #MollaNasraddin #IsmailiyyaPalace #Branobel #TaghiyevTheatre #MuslimGirlsSchool #BolshevikRevolution #19thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #Azerbaijan Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • The Khanate of Talysh: Azerbaijan's Lost Borderland

    The Khanate of Talysh: Azerbaijan's Lost Borderland
    2026/06/10
    In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the little-known Khanate of Talysh, a semi-independent state that flourished in the 18th century along the Caspian coast. They discuss its founding by Mir Mustafa Khan, the unique Talysh language and culture, the khanate's strategic position between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, and its eventual annexation in the Russo-Persian wars. The episode also covers the controversial figure of Mir Mustafa's successor, the khanate's role in the Treaty of Gulistan, and why its history has been largely forgotten in modern Azerbaijani and Iranian narratives. #Talysh #KhanateOfTalysh #MirMustafaKhan #CaspianSea #Lankaran #Qajar #RussianEmpire #TreatyOfGulistan #Caucasus #AzerbaijanHistory #18thCentury #TalyshLanguage #Borderlands #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast #Azerbaijan #LostKingdoms Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分