11-14th century Azerbaijan

[j.ouellet23]

Hello and Salam to everyone,
I am working on a persona for a 11-14th century Azeri traveller.
I have found little resources for Azeri specificly, mostly Persian and Arab.
Is there anyone who knows of some specifics as to what the Azeri would have worn?

Thank you.

[Destichado]

Well, for a start they wouldn't have been calling themselves Azeri at that time. They would have been Oghuz Turks, and right about that time the Oghuz would have started calling themselves Turkoman.
The Seljuks conquered the region in the 11th century, and pushed out the native Persians, and the Oghuz nomads migrated in from the North East. Persian culture and language persisted of course, and slowly replaced Turkic tribalism, but the people living in Azerbaijan who later started calling themselves Azeri were just one more tribe of Turks.

You definitely don't want anything Arab. Look for traditional Turkic clothing as your base.

[j.ouellet23]

At what point then did they start calling themselves Azeri?

Also would there clothing have been similar to Persian as well?

[Destichado]

Whoo. Tough to answer. I should preface this by saying I'm not an authority on Azerbiajan or on early Muslim Persia, but I have done a fair bit of research on Pre-Muslim Persia. So... take it for what it's worth.

Azerbaijan is a place. The people living there associated themselves with their people, their culture, not their place.

For instance, before the Muslim conquest, the Emperor of Persia styled himself as the "King of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran." Iran being a name (not necessarily THE name) of a place, Persians being the people currently living in it.
So, Azeris only became Azeris when the people living in Azerbaijan developed their own culture, and then stopped living only in Azerbaijan. But in early periods this is still a weak concept. Think of it like an American living in New York still referring to himself as a Southerner. There are a lot of associations that come before "Southerner" -nationality, city, state, family, creed... then region. Maybe.

If I had to guess -and it's a guess (ie: I'm all but talking out of my backside here)- I'd guess the term arose around 1200 under the Atabergs of Azerbaijan, after the Great Seljuk Empire dissolved into lesser entities but before the Mongols conquered everyone and formed the Ilkhanate.

Clothing? I'll go out on a limb an say under the Seljuk dynasty, yes. They were pretty much the same people. Beyond that I have *no* idea.

...Hey, why am I telling you this? This is your period, isn't it? You go research this stuff.

[j.ouellet23]

Thanks, I appriciate it.