Beginning in the 70s of the 19th century, teacher seminaries were created in a number of regions of the Russian Empire, including the South Caucasus, to train teachers for rural schools. Teachers' seminaries, created mainly by “zemstva” (local self-government institution introduced in Tsarist Russia during the 19th century), were based in their work on the “Teachers' Seminary Project”, developed by the brilliant Russian teacher Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky. Although the tsarist authorities tried in various ways to prevent the zemstvos from opening seminaries, they still failed to do this. To control the process of creating seminaries, the “Regulations on the Teachers’ Seminary” were approved in 1870. According to this provision, teacher seminaries were to be established by the government, and not by zemstvos. The Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary was founded by decree of the Russian Emperor Alexander II on April 8, 1875. The Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary in the city of Gori was considered one of the leading seminaries of that time.

In the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary and in the three primary schools created under it - Russian, Georgian, Armenian - education was conducted in Russian and in these schools there were almost no teachers who spoke the Azerbaijani language, which slowed down the work of attracting Azerbaijani youth to these schools.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, in the villages of Azerbaijan, there was a great need to provide Azerbaijani Muslim personnel in existing schools and in schools planned to open in the future. The demands of the time, as well as the growing voices of protest from the progressive Azerbaijani intelligentsia against national discrimination against Muslims, forced the tsarist government to retreat from the requirements of the “Regulations on the Teachers’ Seminary.” Thus, not only “Orthodox” but also Muslims were allowed to study in seminaries.

As a result of the changes in the socio-economic life of Azerbaijan and the struggle of the progressive intelligentsia of our people for the cause of education, the governor from the South Caucasus agreed to the creation of a Tatar (Azerbaijani) section of the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary for the Muslim population.

On September 23, 1879, the Tatar (Azerbaijani) branch, created at the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary, began to operate in the city of Gori. The activities of the Tatar (Azerbaijani) department at the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary were formalized by a decision of the State Council of May 13, 1880. This department had the historical mission of training Azerbaijani Muslim teachers.
According to the regulations on the Azerbaijani branch, approved on May 13, 1880, the purpose of this branch was to train knowledgeable and skillful teachers for primary schools in the Azerbaijani villages of the South Caucasus.

The seminary mainly consisted of three main classes. Advanced training classes opened next to them. According to the charter, the Azerbaijani branch and its primary school were subordinate to the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary in matters of management, education and training. In the Azerbaijani branch it was important to have two Sharia teachers, one Shiite and one Sunni. Azerbaijani children studied Sharia and their native language separately, and they studied other subjects together with other children until the end of the school year. In the Azerbaijani department, as well as in Russian and Georgian, there were students studying at the expense of state, city and rural organizations, as well as students studying at their own expense.

The first graduation from the Azerbaijani branch of the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary was in 1882. The 10 young Muslim Azerbaijanis who graduated from this branch were the first Azerbaijani teachers to start working at the pedagogical faculty. Among those who completed the courses in 1882 were Hashim bey Narimanbekov, Rashid bey Efendiyev, Mamed bey Efendiyev and others.  Despite the small number of graduates of this department, they were able to play an important role in the opening and functioning of secular schools in the Azerbaijani villages of Transcaucasia. The organization of the Azerbaijani branch of the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary created the conditions for the creation of the first textbook in the native language. In 1882, based on the material collected by A. O. Chernyaevsky, the first part of the textbook entitled “Vatan Dili” (Native Language) was published. The second part of the textbook “Vatan Dili”, intended for second and third grade students, was published in 1888 by A.O. Chernyaevsky and Safarali bey Velibekov. “Vatan Dili,” which was published several times in subsequent years, was used for a long time as a native language textbook in Azerbaijani schools, and a whole generation of pre-revolutionary Azerbaijani intelligentsia benefited from this book. The most important thing is that this textbook gave a powerful impetus to the further development of the Azerbaijani language and the creation of new textbooks in the native language.

In 1918, the Gori Teachers' Seminary closed. Transferring the Azerbaijani branch of the seminary to one of the schools in Azerbaijan was a long-standing dream of the enlightened intelligentsia. Along with N. Narimanov, R. Efendiev, S.S. Akhundov, J. Mamedkulizade, U. Hajibekov, F. Agazade, with other representatives of the intelligentsia, teachers, akhunds, parents, Baku millionaires, a petition was sent to the Caucasian educational district for transfer of the Azerbaijani branch of the former Gori Seminary to Azerbaijan. Firidun bey Kocharli, the great educator of our people, tirelessly fought for the implementation of this idea. In 1918, he received permission from the Caucasian educational district to move the seminary to Azerbaijan.

In 1918, thanks to the efforts of Firidun bey Kocharli, the Azerbaijani branch of the Gori Seminary was transferred to Gazakh and continued to operate there until the establishment of Soviet power. An enlightened resident of Gazakh named Mashadi Ibrahim donated his house with 17 rooms to the Azerbaijani seminary. After this, Firidun bey Kocharli began to carry out extensive activities to create a friendly and business-like team for this seminary. The activities of the Gazakh Seminary gave a great impetus to the development of education and knowledge in Azerbaijan. Among the students of the seminary one can list such famous personalities as; S.A. Velibekov, I. Abakov, J. Mamedguluzade, F. Agazade, R. Takhirov, U. Hajibeyov, M. Magomaev, M. Garayev, A. Guseynov, A. A. Mustafaev, G. Shikhlinsky and others. As a result of accelerated measures taken in this direction, at the beginning of 1919, 23 state secondary educational institutions, 6 men's and 4 women's gymnasiums, including 5 real schools, 3 teachers' seminaries, 3 women's schools were created in Baku, Ganja, Nukha. Salyan, Shusha and Gazakh institutes, 1 polytechnic and 1 vocational school were opened.

Recommended literature:

1. Muradova, Zəhra Bilal qızı. Şuşadan Qoriyə gedən yol: [Qori Müəllimlər Seminariyası] / Z. B. Muradova ; elmi red. V. C. Xəlilov. - Bakı : Orxan NPM, 2022. - 176 s.
2. Seyidov, Fikrət Əhməd oğlu. Qori seminariyası və onun məzunları /F. Ə. Seyidov ; ixtisas red. H. M. Əhmədov ; rəyçi. Ə. Ş. Həşimov. - Bakı: Maarif, 1988. - 295 s.
3. Əmirəliyeva, İradə Böyükağa qızı. Pedaqoji fikir tarixindən: dərs vəsaiti / İ. B. Əmirəliyeva ; elmi red. A. Abbasov ; Azərbaycan Respublikasının Təhsil İnstitutu. - Bakı : Mütərcim, 2018. - 112 s.
4. Seyidov, F. Ə. Azərbaycan müəllimlərinin hazırlanmasında Zaqafqaziya (Qori) seminariyasının rolu /F. Ə. Seyidov ; [red. M. Süleymanov] ; Azərbaycan SSR Maarif Nazirliyi, Azərbaycan Müəllimləri Təkmilləşdirmə İnstitutu. - Bakı: Birləşmiş nəşriyyat, 1960. - 81 s.