Origin of the Azeris

The Azeris, Azerbaijanis, or Azerbaijani Turks are the Oghuz Turkic-speaking ethnic group in Caucasus and northwestern Iran. Azeris are of mixed ethnic origin tracing back to indigenous populations of Eastern Caucasus and the Iranic peoples. After the Seljuq Turkic conquest of the region in the 11th century, Azeris were Turkified in the ensuing centuries. - Encyclopædia Britannica

Caucasian substrate

The Caucasian origin of the Azeris defines a link between Azeris and their pre-Turkification Caucasian past and mostly applies to the Azeri's of the Caucasus, most of whom are now inhabitants of the Republic of Azerbaijan. There is evidence that, despite repeated invasions and migrations, aboriginal Caucasian may have been culturally assimilated, first by Iranians, such as the Alans, and later by the Oghuz. Considerable information has been learned about the Caucasian Albanians including their language, history, early conversion to Christianity, and close ties to the Armenians. Many academics believe that the Udi language, still spoken in Azerbaijan, is a remnant of the Albanians' language., University of Munich, Wolfgang Schulze 2001/2 (retrieved 19 June 2006).

This Caucasian influence extended further south into Iranian Azarbaijan. During the 1st millennium BCE, another Caucasian people, the Mannaeans (Mannai) populated much of...
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