History of Baku

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Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan. It was also the capital of Shirvan (during the reigns of Akhsitan I and Khalilullah I), the Baku Khanate, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Azerbaijan SSR and the administrative center of Russian Baku governorate. Baku is derived from the old Persian Bagavan, which translates to "City of God".^[1] A folk etymology explains the name Baku as derived from the Persian Bādkube (بادکوبه ), meaning "city where the wind blows", due to frequent winds blowing in Baku. However, the word Bādkube was invented only in the 16th or 17th century, whereas Baku was founded at least before the 5th century AD.^[2]