
Autumn 1998 (6.3)
Page 51
The Legend of
Sumgayit
City
Takes Its Name from a Legend of Love
by Fuad Akhundov
A city doesn't have to be ancient to be associated with a legend.
In Azerbaijan, even comparatively new towns and settlements are
named after old stories and legends. Sumgayit, located about
30 miles away from Baku on the northern shore of the Absheron
Peninsula, is the third largest city in Azerbaijan (after Baku
and Ganja). It was built 50 years ago and has an estimated population
of 300,000. The city's name refers to the legend of two lovers
who lived by a nearby river.
Statue of a seagull in Sumgayit. Photo: Blair
 The story's setting takes place
on the banks of the river near which a tribal group had settled.
Central to so many stories throughout the world is a love story
and so it is with this legend. A young man named Sum and a young
woman named Jeyran fell deeply in love with each other. Their
tribe was doing quite well, getting most of their food by fishing
in the river. However, one morning the people were horrified
to see that the river had completely dried up. Since the river
had its source high up in the mountains, the tribesmen decided
to send the strongest and most courageous man to go up and see
what had happened. And so it was that Sum was chosen for this
dangerous mission.
Sum climbed and climbed until
he reached the top of the highest mountain. Then he discovered
what the problem was. A terrible monster had dammed up the river
with a huge boulder. A fierce battle ensued and eventually Sum
managed to overcome the beast and strangle it to death. Then
he went over to the boulder and pushed it out of the way, but
the force of the water swallowed him up and his body was swept
downstream. As the water carried him away, only his hand could
be seen sticking up above the surface of the water. That's why
this mountain where Sum carried out his heroic deed is called
"Beshbarmag" Mountain, which means "Five Fingers."
Its five tall peaks look like the hero's fingers.
But the river began flowing
again and everything returned to normal. The tribe was saved.
Everyone was happy again except, of course, for Jeyran. She missed
Sum terribly. Every day she would go down to the river and call
for her beloved to return. In Azeri, her cry sounded like, "Sum
Gayid!" (Sum, Come back). And that's how the river that
Sum saved came to be called, "Sumgayit Chay" ("chay,"
meaning river). And the city that was built there shortly after
WWII was named Sumgayit. It became Azerbaijan's largest chemical
and industrial center.
Jeyran-Batan
But that's not the end of the story. When Jeyran realized that
Sum would never come back, she started to cry and eventually
she, too, died, drowning in her own tears. The place where this
is supposed to have happened is called Jeyran-Batan, which in
Azeri means, "The place where Jeyran drowned." Today,
there is a reservoir there which supplies the city of Baku with
water. This reservoir was created about the same time that the
city of Sumgayit was built. So the names of both places can be
traced to olden times and are bound up with the same legend.
From Azerbaijan International (6.3) Autumn 1998.
© Azerbaijan International 1998. All rights reserved.
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