Azerbaijanis consider Iranian military commander and diplomat Oruj bey to be Azerbaijani, but the reality is different

2024-10-23

Oruj bey Sultanali bey Oglu Bayat (1560/67–1616/1620), served in the courts of the Safavid shahs of Iran, first under Muhammad Khudabanda and later Abbas I. He was also a notable military commander in Safavid Persia. Oruj bey descended from the Bayat tribe, a Turkmen-Oghuz group mentioned by the 11th-century scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari in his Divan Lughat al-Turk (Dictionary of Turkish Dialects).

In 1599, Oruj bey traveled to Spain as part of a Persian diplomatic mission. During his stay, he converted to Christianity and took the name Don Juan of Persia. He later authored The History of Don Juan of Persia, in which he chronicled the history of Safavid Persia and described his journey to Europe.

It is important to note that Oruj bey, who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, had no connection to the Azerbaijanis, who only began to form as a distinct nation in the 20th century.

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