About the role of the Azerbaijani language in the life and culture of the Caucasian peoples in the nineteenth century
Belonging of the Azerbaijani language to the oldest written languages of the East has long been scientifically proven. The first written monument of this language, which reached to the present day, the epic “The Book of DedeKorkut” is the memory of pre-Islamic period, even if we take the latest one of the time when Islam began to be spread in Azerbaijan. The level of the epic's language shows that, the Azerbaijani language had passed a long period of historical-literary formation before the creation of the epic, developed and enriched throughout the medieval centuries and served as the primary means of communication at the end of the eighteenth - XIX centuries for the peoples of the Caucasus region. Ashygs of Dagestan, Georgia and Armenia created and sang in the Azerbaijani language. In addition, the authorities of the tsarist Russia established political and diplomatic relations with the eastern and south-eastern provinces of the Empire through the Azerbaijani language, and created economic and trade relations. The fact was repeatedly mentioned in the sources and works of various authors of the period and therole of the Azerbaijani language in the Caucasus was assessed as the role of the French language in Europe. This and other related issues have been involved to the investigation in the article.