Province of Azerbaijan استان آذربایجان | |||||||
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1501–1736 | |||||||
Status | Province of Safavid Iran | ||||||
Capital | Tabriz | ||||||
Common languages | Persian, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Armenian, Syriac | ||||||
Government | Province | ||||||
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Today part of | Iran Azerbaijan |
The province of Azerbaijan (Persian: استان آذربایجان, romanized: ostān-e āzarbāyjān) was a province in the northwestern part of Safavid Iran, serving as one of its principal administrative areas. The city of Tabriz was the provincial capital, as well as the capital of the Safavids until 1555. The Ottoman Empire occupied Tabriz and a large portion of Azerbaijan from 1588 to 1603; as a result, the authority of the governor-general of Azerbaijan was mainly restricted to Ardabil.[1]