Inscriptions and likely period of construction Ateshgah of Baku

ateshgah, beginning of 20th century

there several inscriptions on ateshgah. in either sanskrit or punjabi, exception of 1 persian inscription occurs below accompanying sanskrit invocation lord ganesha , jwala ji. although persian inscription contains grammatical errors, both inscriptions contain same year date of 1745 common era (samvat/संवत 1802/१८०२ , hijri 1158/١١٥٨). taken set, dates on inscriptions range samvat 1725 samvat 1873, corresponds period 1668 ce 1816 ce. this, coupled assessment structure looks relatively new, has led scholars postulate 17th century period of construction. 1 press report asserts local records exist state structure built baku hindu traders community around time of fall of shirvanshah dynasty , annexation russian empire following russo-persian war (1722–1723).

the inscriptions in temple in sanskrit (in nagari devanagari script) , punjabi (in gurmukhi script) identify site place of hindu , sikh worship, , state built , consecrated jwala ji, modern hindu fire deity. jwala (जवाला/ज्वाला) means flame in sanskrit (c.f. indo-european cognates: proto-indo-european guelh, english: glow, lithuanian: zvilti) , ji honorific used in indian subcontinent. there famed shrine jwala ji in himalayas, in settlement of jawalamukhi, in kangra district of himachal pradesh, india atashgah bears strong resemblance , on scholars (such a. v. williams jackson) suggested current structure may have been modeled. however, other scholars have stated jwala ji devotees used refer kangra shrine smaller jwala ji , baku shrine greater jwala ji . other deities mentioned in inscriptions include ganesha , shiva. punjabi language inscriptions quotations adi granth, while of sanskrit ones drawn sat sri ganesaya namah text.