Quba

Quba stands by the Qudyal River on the northeastern slopes of the Caucasus, between the mountains and the Caspian plain. It became the seat of the Quba khanate after the destruction of the earlier residence at Khudat in the 1730s. The khans ruled a diverse country of mountain valleys and lowland settlements, connected by roads to Derbent, Shirvan and Baku.

Under Fath-Ali Khan, who ruled from 1758 to 1789, Quba reached the height of its regional influence. He brought Derbent, Baku, Shirvan and other neighboring territories under his authority at various times. Across the river from Quba, Mountain Jews who had fled unrest found a home under the protection of his father Husayn Ali Khan and later Fath-Ali. Jewish craftsmen, merchants and gardeners helped build a distinct community beside the khanate's capital. After Fath-Ali's death the balance of power shifted again. Russian expansion reached Quba in the early nineteenth century, ending the khanate's independence. The town and its neighboring Jewish settlement nevertheless retained the marks of the period when Quba was a major center of power on the western Caspian approaches.