Hello everyone! I’m back with the impressions of a very special journey that deeply inspired me both as a bookworm and a mobile photographer capturing visual stories. Today, we are opening a whole new frame on gmworldbook. As part of our #gmshots project—the visual diary of our blog—I recently took part in a unique cultural movement: the ‘Alphabet of Baku’ Series No. 3 Balakhani tour, organized by the ‘Artmosfer’ platform.
Taking my phone in hand and following the footsteps of our group and guide into the narrow, fairytale-like streets of the town, I realized that these places are not just to be glanced at and passed by; they are meant for pausing at every corner to capture the light, freeze that moment on the screen, and listen to the voice of history. Now, let’s discover the history captured by my phone’s lens, the hidden meaning of the names, and the unforgettable artistic traces of Balakhani.
The Hidden Code Behind the Name: Etymology
Listening to our guide during the tour, the first thing that caught my attention was how perfectly the town’s name aligns with its visual landscape. According to historical sources and Gılman İlkin’s book ‘Baku and Bakuvians’, the name Balakhani originates from two ancient Persian components
- “Bala” – means upper, high, or elevated.
- “Khane” (və ya “Khaneh”) – means house, place, or room.
Together, it translates to ‘Upper House’ or ‘High Dwelling’. In ancient times, the small half-story rooms built above the entrance gates of caravanserais along the Silk Road were also called balakhana (‘the Khan’s room’). Geographically, since the area sits on a slight elevation, this name has become its visual passport over the centuries.
The Black Gold of History and the Footprints of Centuries
No matter where I turn my phone’s lens, a massive industrial history emerges from behind the pastel-colored balconies and flower pots. This town is actually the very starting point where the global economy and the oil industry were shaped:
The industrial empire of the famous Nobel Brothers and the entry of Baku oil into the global arena are directly connected to the Balakhani oil fields.
In 1594, the world’s first industrial oil well, measuring 35 meters deep, was dug here by hand by a local villager named Allahyar Mammad Nuroglu.
In 1837, the world’s first kerosene refinery began its operations on this very soil.
Our Cinema History Alive on the Streets: “O Olmasin, Bu Olsun”
As I walked through the streets of Balakhani, I came across a corner that felt like a time machine taking me back to the golden age of Azerbaijani cinema. This place is not just made of historical buildings; it is a living space that keeps the unforgettable fragments of our national culture alive on its walls.
This frame, captured in my phone’s memory, brings to life that famous scene everyone knows by heart from the movie ‘If Not That One, Then This One’, based on the immortal work of the great Uzeyir Hajibeyli. That comical and nostalgic moment where Meshadi Ibad climbs onto his servant’s back to catch a glimpse of Gulnaz from behind the stone wall creates such a beautiful harmony with the lush green pomegranate tree in the background and the town’s ancient stone wall… One cannot help but pause in front of this statue-composition and recall those famous dialogues from the film.
The First in the Orient: Balakhani’s Entrusted Historic Statue
The next treasured highlight of the ‘Alphabet of Baku’ tour that caught my eye and my phone’s focus lens was the statue of Mirza Alakbar Sabir. Behind this monument lies a fascinating history of journey and artistic heritage.
Did you know that the very first monumental statue dedicated to a specific individual in the Muslim East (and Azerbaijan) was this upright monument of the great poet Sabir? Sculpted by Yakov Keylikhis in 1922, this first statue was originally erected in the center of Baku. However, when the poet’s current seated statue was placed in the center in 1958, this historically significant first monument was not forgotten; it was relocated to the Balakhani village—the very place where the poet once taught. Standing in front of that statue and adjusting my phone’s focus, I felt that I wasn’t just photographing a stone monument, but capturing the very first step in the sculpting history of the Eastern world.
Other Renowned Figures Echoing the Soul of Balakhani
This town holds not only the footprints of Sabir but has also raised other great figures who shaped Azerbaijan’s artistic and musical memory:
- Jahangir Jahangiror: A maestro of Azerbaijani music and the brilliant composer behind the unforgettable ‘Fuzuli Cantata’ and the song ‘Yarimin Khatirina’ (For the Sake of My Loved One), he was born and raised on this very soil.
- Socio-Political Footprints: In the early 20th century, Balakhani was a hub for the labor movement. The paths of prominent historical figures like Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh and Meshadi Azizbeyov crossed through this town at various times.
From Our Bookshelf: Turning the Pages of Balakhani
A gmworldbook journey, of course, cannot end without literature. If you wish to feel these places through the lines of books after seeing them through my photographed captures, be sure to add these three works to your reading list:
- ‘Baku and the Nobel Brothers’ (Robert Montgomery): A brilliant documentary work exploring Baku’s oil boom of that era, set against the backdrop of the Nobels’ activities in Balakhani.
- ‘Balakhani: Pages of History’: An intriguing collection of research reflecting the town’s ancient generations, ethnography, and local architecture.
- ‘The History of the Armenian-Muslim Conflict in the Caucasus’ (Mirish Bey – 1911 edition): A documentary portrait of the labor movement and the tense political processes experienced in the Balakhani oil fields at the beginning of the century.
Gmshots Impressions”
“Thanks to this magnificent project gifted to us by the ‘Artmosphere’ platform, I realized that Balakhani is not just a restored, colorful tourist village. It is a living book where history, cinema, and art embrace—one that whispers new visual stories to you at every single turn. With every photograph I captured on my phone, I tried to read a different letter of that book’s alphabet.”
Bir yanıt yazın