Udi - the ancient tribe who live primarily in Azerbaijan, are the descendants of the Caucasian Albanians. Todays, the number of udis reaches 3962 people. The religion is christianity. There are two the oldest churches in the village. More than 2,000 years later, despite the fact that their language has not been in a written form since, at least, the 10th century, the language still is alive. Not long ago, the Azerbaijani government started recruiting Udis for military service. The problem had been that many Udis had adopted Armenian family names. Because of the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenians, the Azerbaijani military did not want to recruit these Udis in military service, even though military service is required of all Azerbaijani males. On May 26, 2003, a religious entity was formalized and registered with the government called the "Albanian Udi Christian Community of the Azerbaijan Republic". In the early 1990s, Jora Kochari, one of the elders of the Udi community in Nij, registered a Cultural Foundation with the government. Since then, he has worked hard to produce numerous literary works in the Udi language. Since Azerbaijan has adopted Latin as their official alphabet, Udis also have based their 52-letter alphabet on Latin as well. Such nationalistic gestures would have been impossible during the Soviet period. In addition, these days in Udi schools, children are taught the Udi language up through the fourth grade. Some community members would like to see instruction extended through the eighth grade. The latest estimate of the Udi population was 8,000 (1989); today, some suggest the figure to be about 10,000. The majority of Udis live in northern Azerbaijan near Gabala in two areas. An estimated 4,000 Udis reside in the village of Nij and about 100 live in the Oghuz region. There has not been a census since the collapse of the Soviet Union, so no one is absolutely certain what the total Udi population is. A small number also live in the cities of Baku and Sumgayit. There are also small groups living in Russia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
authors
Bayram Isgandarov
Bayram Isgandarov, born in 1988. Bayram is a photographer. He started doing photography from 2007-2008 and still cannot call himself as a photographer. He considers that for being a professional he must pass a long way of learning and practicing. He had a one month internship in “Galata Fotografhanesi” in Istanbul. At the same time, he took a documental photography course there. He has a bachelor degree in Cinematography from Azerbaijan Institute of Culture, and a Master Degree from the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management in Tbilisi, Georgia.