Qabala City

Qabala city

Qabala, also known as Gabala, is a city in Azerbaijan and the capital of the Qabala Rayon. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Kusnat. Before 1991 the city was known as Kutkashen, but after Azerbaijan’s independence the town was renamed in honour of the much older city of Gabala, the former capital of Caucasian Albania, the archaeological site of which is about 20 km southwest.

Gabala is the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania. Archaeological evidence indicates that the city functioned as the capital of Caucasian Albania as early as 4th century BC. Up to the present time there are the ruins of the ancient city and the main gate of Caucasian Albania. Ongoing excavations near the village Chukhur show that Gabala from IV – III centuries BC and up to the XVIII century was one of the main cities with developed trade and crafts.The ruins of the ancient town are situated 15 km from the regional center, allocated on the territory between Garachay and Jourluchay rivers. Gabala was located in the middle of the 2,500-year-old Silk Road, and was mentioned by Pliny the Younger as “Kabalaka”, Greek geographer Ptolemy as “Khabala”, Arabic historian  Ahmad ibn Yahya as “Khazar”. In the 19th century, the Azerbaijani historian Abbasgulu Bakhihanov mentioned in his book Gulistani Irem that Kbala or Khabala were in fact Gabala. 

In the 60s BC, Roman troops attacked Caucasian Albania, but did not succeed in capturing the Qabala territory. In 262 AD, Caucasian Albania was occupied by the Sassanid Empire, but preserved its political and economic status. In 464, it lost its independence due to years of invasions from the northern nomadic tribes and had to move its capital city to Partava (currently Barda in Azerbaijan).

Researc by ulduztourism.az

1 Comment

  1. Akram says:

    I was here last summer and loved here !

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