 Following the collapse of the Seljuk Empire, a threat of

Mongol invasion impended over the countries of the East.

Azerbaijan also failed to avoid the Mongolian conquest.
According to Azerbaijani geographer of the earlier 15
century Bakuvi, Mongols could not for long take by assault
the fortress near the sea – town of Baku. Only after the
conquest of the whole country, the town had been forced
to obey.
 Owing to the invasions of foreign conquerors in the 12-13
centuries, Shirvanshahs started erecting in Baku and
Absheron fortress walls, towers and fortifications for
defensive purposes on which names of Shirvanshahs and
their titles were inscribed. All these are indicative of the
independence of Shirvanshahs and big feudal lords.

 Baku under Ilkhans was a place of wintering of Mongol

rulers. In 1297 Gaza-khan, son of Ilkhan Argun, arrived in
Baku and stationed there to winter.
 It was Baku with its great economic importance that
served as natural harbor. Trade ships from Iran and
Central Asia preferred to use the Baku port.

 In 1392/3, Timur appointed his son Miranshah a ruler of

Shirvan and Baku, nevertheless, Sheikh Ibrahim managed
to preserve his title of Shirvanshah even under Miranshah.
In the end of 14 century silver and copper coins were
minted on Timur behalf in Baku.
Shirvanshah Farrukh Yasar I’s helmet
kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York
 In 1413, Shirvanshah Ibrahim I recognized himself a vassal
of Kara Yusuf. Baku, like other towns of Shirvan, fell
under the power of the state of Kara Koyunlu. However,
this vassalage was of formal nature. Son and successor to
Ibrahim – Khalilullah I (1417-1465) declined to recognize
his dependence upon Padishahs of Kara Koyunlu.
Shirvanshah Khalilullah unfolded intensive building activity
in the towns of Shirvan and especially in Baku which
became the capital of Shirvan. Under Khalilullah, esemble
of Shirvanshahs Palace, as well as caravanserais and
bridges came to be erected.
 The earliest coins minted by his son and successor Farruh
Yasar are dated back from 1465. The peace existence of
the state of Shirvanshah ended with disaster under Farruh
Yasar when Sheikh Juneyd and his son Sheikh Heydar from
the family of Safavids came out as conquerors and
attacked Shirvan. Under Khalilullah I (1460), Sheikh Juneyd
fell in action, and in 1488 the battle with Farruh Yasar
Sheikh Heydar was killed.

 In the 11-16 centuries, in Baku and in the Absheron area,

there were the following developed occupations:
handicrafts, stone-carvers, engravers, calligraphers,
painters, weavers, she-carpet-weavers, jewelers,
architects, builders, potters, coppersmiths, shipbuilders
and handicraftsmen specializing in the production of
various kinds of goods.
 Ancient routes of international transit trade between the East and the West
came across the Absheron peninsula of Azerbaijan.

 Importance of Baku as major port was mentioned in an old Catalonian atlas

compiled in 1375. It calls the Caspian as “Baku Sea” or “The sea of Sarra”.
Stamp of Shirvanshah Sultan Mahammad Gazi.
National Museum of History of Azerbaijan