It is common knowledge that Muslims living in the south-eastern part of Caucasus, now the Republic of Azerbaijan, were referred to as 'Tatars' without a clear distinction from other Turkic groups under the rule of the Russian Empire. These Muslims were also called 'Turkish people' (Turks) or Caucasian Muslims. In the latter part of the 19th century and during the early 20th century, a feeling of nationalism emerged among them and they began calling themselves 'Azerbaijanis'. However, no study clearly explains the reason they claim to be Azerbaijanis.
The author scrutinised manuscripts, printed books, journals and newspapers written in several languages and discovered that 'Azerbaijan', the name of the nation, is not directly derived from the name of a geographical location, but from the name of a language. Around 1840, Kazem-bek, a professor at Kazan University, named the language spoken by Muslims in the South Caucasus as 'Azerbaijani Turkish'. Muslim intellectuals who lived in Tiflis, the centre of the South Caucasus in the 19th century, adopted the language name in the 1880s, following which they considered 'people who speak Azerbaijani Turkish' as a single nation called 'Azerbaijani'. The name of this nation initially appeared in the 115th issue of the literary journal Keshkul (Dervish Bowl), published in Tiflis on 16 November, 1890.
Two major reasons for why Muslim intellectuals in Tiflis called themselves Azerbaijanis instead of Tatars, Turkish people and Caucasian Muslims are as follows : First, they wanted to avoid a name based on a religious belief, such as 'Muslim', because they thought that a nation must not be defined by its religion, but by its culture, customs and language. Second, they considered their culture, customs and language to be different from those of the Tatars in the Volga region and Crimean Peninsula, or Turkish people in the Ottoman Empire.
