Chingiz Ildyrym oglu Sultanov () (10 July 1890 – 27 July 1941), better known as Chingiz Ildyrym, was an Azerbaijani

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

, innovator and the first People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of Azerbaijan after the

Sovietization of Azerbaijan The Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan, also known as the Sovietization or Soviet invasion of Azerbaijan, took place in April 1920. It was a military campaign conducted by the 11th Army of Soviet Russia with the aim of installing a new Soviet govern ...

Early life

Ildyrym was born to the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

family of a landowner in

Qubadli Qubadli (, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Qubadli District. It is situated along the Vorotan (Bargushad) river. History Qubadli was part of the Zangezur uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate during the Russian E ...

settlement of Zangezur

uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the R ...

Elisabethpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate s ...

(present day

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

) on 10 July 1890. He studied at a local school established by his father, continued his

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

and then

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

completing it in 1909. He was then admitted to

Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, abbreviated as SPbPU, is a public technical university located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Over the decades, it established itself as a cornerstone of technical education and research, ulti ...

to study mount-mining. While a student, he lost his father and had to work around the clock to be able to support himself. In 1916, he graduated from the university with a specialty in

Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

Engineering and got a job at ''Ayvaz'' plant. Involved in public protests after Russia's

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

, he took a part in the gathering to meet

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

returning from Finland at

Saint Peterburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

railway station on 3 April 1917. Impressed by his speech, Ildyrym decided to commit himself to the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

movement.

Political career

Having joined the ranks of the

s, Ildyrym proposed to create Muslim Labor Red Army, then called '' Ildyrymmiye'', which would defend the Bolshevik governments in regions of Azerbaijan. The first Ildyrymmiye was established in June 1918 in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and Simal. The same year, Ildyrymmiye army of 2,000 Azerbaijanis fought against the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

during the Russian Civil War but due to involvement of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Dashnak The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tifl ...

s siding with Bolsheviks in massacres of Azerbaijanis during

March Days The March Days or March Events () was a period of inter-ethnic strife and clashes which took place between 30 March – 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Transcaucasian Commissariat. Facilita ...

of 1918, Bolsheviks lost their support among Azerbaijanis and the army soon dissolved. In 1919, he returned to Shusha and continued propagating communism. During the existence of

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

, Ildyrym served as Deputy Commander of

Azerbaijani Navy The Azerbaijan Navy () is the naval component of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces operating in the Caspian Sea. History The inception of Azerbaijani Naval Forces dates back to August 5, 1919, when the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republi ...

and chief of the harbor under

Musavat The Müsavat Party (, from ''musāwāt'', ) is the oldest existing political party in Azerbaijan. Its history can be divided into three periods: Early Musavat, Musavat-in-exile and New Musavat. The party was prohibited from contesting the 1995 ...

's leadership although he was a Bolshevik. In 1919, he established a special navy expedition to handle transportation of oil to Russia. On 27 April, when the 11th Red Army was invading Baku, Ildyrym played an important role in overthrowing the ADR government. With a number of soldiers, he entered Baku Navy school and disarmed the cadets. Later in the day, he captured positions in Bailov, completely taking over the shipyard. All prisoners held in Bailov prison were let free, among them well known revolutionaries Rahim Huseynov,

Dadash Bunyadzade Dadash Hodge oglu Bunyadzade (1888–1938) was the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic from 14 March 1930 to 23 October 1932. During the Great Purge, he was arrested, accused o ...

and Gasim Ismayilov. Once the center of Baku was taken, the Bolsheviks led by Ildyrym surrounded the

National Assembly of Azerbaijan The National Assembly (), also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat co ...

with artillery and presented an ultimatum to Musavat government. On early morning hours of 28 April 1920, after debates in the parliament, the government agreed to terms of the Bolsheviks and ADR ceased to exit. With the establishment of Communist regime in Azerbaijan, Chingiz Ildyrym was appointed the first People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of Azerbaijan.

Later years

In 1924, Ildyrym worked as Commissar of Public Roads and presented innovative ideas for road construction in Azerbaijan later applied elsewhere in USSR. He built the first

electrified railway Railway electrification is the use of electric power for the propulsion of rail transport. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), electric multiple units (passenger cars with their own ...

in the USSR on the Baku-

Sabunchi Sabunchi is a town in the Ararat (province), Ararat Province of Armenia. References

*{{GEOnet2, 32FA881E6B003774E0440003BA962ED3 Populated places in Armenia Yazidi populated places in Armenia ...

route. The construction of the

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

- Julfa railway, stretching 407 km in 1924, was his best and most well known project. In 1924–1928, Ildyrym worked as Deputy Chairman of Supreme Agricultural Council. During his term in the entity, he started

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

policies in Azerbaijan. As a result, 19 electric stations (1500 hp) were built in 1924–1927. This stimulated increase in manufacturing abilities of Azerbaijan and in 1927, steel manufacturing department was established at Lieutenant Schmidt (presently Sattarkhan) Plant. In 1925, 65% of the drilling equipment for Azerbaijani oil fields were switched to electric power. In 1929, Ildyrym was appointed project manager for construction of

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (), abbreviated as MMK, is an iron and steel company located in the city of Magnitogorsk, Russia. As of 2017, it was the 30th largest steel company in the world. In 2021, the company's revenue amounted to 786 bil ...

and from 1934, he was managing construction of one of centers of Soviet

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

Krivoy Rog Kryvyi Rih ( ; , ), also known as Krivoy Rog ( ), is a city in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kryvyi Rih Raion and its subordinate Kryvyi Rih urban hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The city is part of the Kryvyi Rih Metropo ...

. During the time of construction boom, Ildyrym was sent to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to arrange shipments of necessary materials for construction of the plant in

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is curre ...

Arrest and execution

On 7 July 1937 Ildyrym was arrested by

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

and charged with an alleged anti-revolutionary plot. He was held prisoner in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In Moscow, he was first jailed in high security Lefortovo Prison and then moved to a more severe location - Sukhanovo Prison, infamous for political prisoners. He was sentenced to death by NKVD and his family was notified he had been sentenced to 10 years without permission to communicate with the outside world. He was

executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French , rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually re ...

in the summer of 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ildyrym, Chingiz 1890 births 1941 deaths Azerbaijan Communist Party (1920) politicians Azerbaijani atheists Azerbaijani revolutionaries Old Bolsheviks Deaths by firearm in Azerbaijan Executed politicians Great Purge victims from Azerbaijan Kurdish revolutionaries Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Ministers of defense of Azerbaijan Party leaders of the Soviet Union People from Elizavetpol Governorate People from Qubadli People of the Russian Civil War People of the Russian Revolution Soviet politicians Inmates of Sukhanovo Prison

Early life

Political career

Later years

Arrest and execution

See also

References