ATROPATENE

'Atropatene' was the Seleucid-era Greek name given to a kingdom established in the 4th century BCE, and the nominal ancestor of the name 'Azerbaijan'.
Following the death of Alexander the Great and the division of his conquests among his generals, the previous Achaemenid satrapy of Media was divided into two states: The greater part retained the name Media, while the smaller region became 'Media Atropatene', after Atropates, the governor of the province. Shortly thereafter, Atropates refused to pay allegiance to the Seleucids, and made the region an independent kingdom. It subsequently lost the 'Media' prefix in the name and came to be simply 'Atropatene' (Greek ᾿Ατροπατήνη).
The dynasty Atropates founded would rule the kingdom for several centuries, first independently, then as vassals of the Arsacids (who called it 'Aturpatakan'), then briefly as vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia (who called it 'Atrpatakan'). It was eventually annexed by the Arsacids, who then lost it to the Sassanids, who again called it 'Aturpatakan'.
On Easter day 628, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius captured Ganzak, the capital. The Arabs took control at some time between 639 and 643, where it formed a separate province of the early Islamic caliphate and was considered to have had strategic importance. Middle Iranian (i.e. Parthian and Middle Persian) 'Aturpatakan' became Adarbaygan, Adarbayjan, Azarbaijan, Azerbaijan.

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